Mission Statement: The Florida Lottery was created to allow the people of the state to benefit from significant additional moneys for education while playing the best lottery games available. The mission of the Florida Lottery is to maximize revenues in a manner consistent with the dignity of the state and the welfare of its citizens.
2007
Jul 10
The Florida Lottery launches LIFE Family of Games. Players may win annuity prizes, payable once per year over the life of the winner – whether that's 20 years, 50 years or more.
Jul 7
The 7th day of the 7th month of the year 2007, the Florida Lottery holds its 7,000TH CASH 3™ drawing. CASH 3 tickets for 7-7-7 and PLAY 4™ tickets for 7-7-7-7 both sold out prior to the drawings. While, neither combination came out a winner, 777 has come up seven times in CASH 3 history.
Jul 4
Firecracker MILLIONAIRE RAFFLE™ drawing takes place, making 12 lucky winners new millionaires and offering 25 winners $100,000 and 200 winners $10,000 prizes.
Jun 13
Governor Crist signs Senate Bill 1376, granting the Florida Lottery authority to apply for and hold patents for unique lottery games, play styles, methods and systems that are developed by the Lottery's product development specialists.
Apr 30
The Florida Lottery reaches its allowable limit of 13,000 full-service retailers in operation throughout the state.
Mar 5
The Florida Lottery introduces CARS & CASH – a limited-time promotion offering the opportunity to win a total of six $250,000 cash prizes and 42 Ford vehicles.
Jan 23
$20 MILLION DOLLAR MONOPOLY Scratch-Off ticket debuts. Just 10 days later, (Feb 2) 90 year old Myrna Fonda claims the first of six $1 million top prizes.
Jan 19
The Florida Lottery transfers $96,360,000 to the EETF, bringing the Lottery's total education contributions to exceed the $17 billion mark.
Jan 2
Governor Charlie Christ appoints Leo DiBenigno as the sixth secretary of the Florida Lottery.
Jan 1
Holiday MILLIONAIRE RAFFLE™ drawing takes place New Year's Day awarding 130 winners more than $13 million in prizes. Ten lucky players receive one million dollars apiece, the highest number of millionaires in a single drawing in the history of the Florida Lottery. The game, which started Nov. 20, sold out in 11 days.
2006
Dec 3
CASH 3™ number 7-7-7 produces 18,542 winners and $4,545,275 in prize payouts in a single day. It also marks the third time this year a triplet CASH 3 number is drawn (9-9-9 drawn in July, 3-3-3 drawn in April).
Jul 3
The Florida Lottery unites with racecar giant International Speedway Corporation to launch its first ever Race for Cash promotion offering players more than $2 million in prizes and travel packages to NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Race events.
Apr 19
Two FLORIDA LOTTO™ players share the fourth highest jackpot of $87.9 million after 10 rollovers. The advertised jackpot was $82 million, but strong sales push the actual payoff much higher. Both winners use Quick Pick to choose the six winning numbers.
Mar 20
The Florida Lottery introduces an exciting new playing option called EZmatchTM to enhance FANTASY 5® allowing players to win up to $500 instantly.
Feb 20
Florida Lottery retailers start receiving increased bonus commission for selling a winning FLORIDA LOTTOTM, MEGA MONEYTM, or FANTASY 5® top prize ticket.
2005
Nov 21
The Florida Lottery launches the "Cash for the Holidays" promotion. The promotion combined On-line games with an instant bonus players won when they purchased tickets and heard the promotion theme music on the Florida Lottery terminals. An estimated 900,000 players across Florida entered the special "Cash for the Holidays" New Year's Eve Drawing. One lucky player won the $1 million jackpot and 10 players won $1,000 each.
July 19
The Florida Lottery transfers more than $1 billion to the EETF for the third consecutive year bringing a life-to-date contribution of more than $15 billion to education.
April
Florida Lottery surpasses the 12,000 mark in full-service retailers in operation throughout the state.
Feb 3
Florida Lottery conducted three days of live drawings held in conjunction with Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, only three days after launch of the new gaming system.
Jan 31
Changes are made to PLAY 4 allowing players to now choose Combo or Pairs Play. Advance Play is extended to 14 days for PLAY 4 and CASH 3.
Jan 31
The new GROUPER™ playstyle is introduced. GROUPER players receive six tickets, CASH 3, PLAY 4, FANTASY 5, MEGA MONEY, FLORIDA LOTTO and one FREE FANTASY 5, MEGA MONEY or FLORIDA LOTTO ticket - all for $5. GROUPER produced $1.3 million in sales during the first week after launch.
Jan 31
The Florida Lottery and GTECH Corporation launch the most successful gaming system conversion in lottery history. The GTECH Enterprise Series System provided nearly 12,000 retailers with a state-of-the-art On-line gaming system and provided Florida Lottery players with one of the most reliable and secure gaming systems in the world.
2004
Oct 28
Florida Lottery Secretary Rebecca Dirden Mattingly dedicates a new Florida Lottery Reading Room to participants and families in a Leon County Boys and Girls Club. The Lottery will sponsor essential resources such as books, computer access and a quiet place for children and parents to read.
Aug 12
An estimated $15 million FLORIDA LOTTO ticket, sold in St. Petersburg, remained unclaimed after the 180-day redemption deadline.
July 19
The Florida Lottery transfers more than $1 billion to the EETF for the second consecutive year bringing a life-to-date contribution of more $14 billion to education.
Jun 30
Tickets sales, for fiscal year 2003-2004, exceed $3 billion for the first time in the history of the Florida Lottery.
Jun 29
GOLD RUSH, the Florida Lottery’s first $20 Scratch-Off game ticket is launched. Players have a chance to win up to $500,000 as an annuity or Cash Option. GOLD RUSH produced $3.7 million in sales the first full week after launch.
Jan 30
Changes are made to the Florida Lottery’s newest On-line game MEGA MONEY by increasing the starting jackpot to $500,000 for each drawing and climbing to $2 million, increasing lower tier prize payouts, adding two new prize levels and a free MEGA MONEY ticket for matching only the MEGABALL. The overall odds are improved and the game matrix is changed to (1 out of 44) and (1 out of 22) for the MEGABALL.
2003
Sep 8
The largest unclaimed Florida Lottery ticket in the Lottery's 15-year history expires after the 180-day deadline with no one claiming the ticket. The FLORIDA LOTTO™ ticket was worth an estimated $53.7 million. ($30.1 million Cash Amount).
Aug 29
GTECH corporation is selected to replace IGT as the Lottery's Online gaming system vendor .
Jul 17
The Lottery transfers more than $13 billion to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund in its
15 th
year of operation. The transfer comes after a record $2.9 billion in gross ticket sales for 2002-03 and a record $1.017 billion generated for education.
Mar 5
Governor Jeb Bush appoints Rebecca Dirden Mattingly the fourth permanent secretary of the Florida Lottery.
Jan 12
The Lottery celebrates it's anniversary by selling $30 billion in gross tickets sales and transferring $12.50 billion to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund since 1988.
2002
Sep 16-20
FANTASY 5® game had a record five consecutive "rolldowns". Four-number winners shared an average of $238,000 in each of the five drawings.
Sep 7
Seven FLORIDA LOTTO players share the third highest jackpot, $87.81 million after a record 10 rollovers. They all used personal numbers to choose the six winning numbers.
Jun 25
The Florida Lottery transfers a record $926 million into the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund to reach a total of $12 billion since 1988. The Florida Lottery reached the $12 billion milestone faster than any other state Lottery. This achievement followed a record year of $2,330,365,000 in net ticket sales.
Jun 19
Five winners from four cities share highest MEGA MONEY top prize, $1,510,439.20 in the game's three-year history after six rollovers.
Mar 27
The
Lottery continued its tradition of co-promotions with the Harley-Davidson Scratch-Off game, which offered Harleys- Davidson motorcycles as prizes, with three-bonus drawing.
Mar 10
PLAY 4™ players won a record $4,402,500 in top prizes after the numbers 0-0-0-0 were drawn. A record 1,182 players won cash prizes from that drawing.
Jan 19
Four winners share the third-highest jackpot in FLORIDA LOTTO history, $87.63 million. The winners, all players who used "Quick Pick," bought their tickets in Brooksville, Jacksonville, Miami and Wellington.
2001
Oct 19
An estimated $7 million FLORIDA LOTTO ticket, sold in Fern Park in Seminole County for the April 21, drawing, went unclaimed after the 180-day redemption deadline passed.
Sep 13
Shirley Press, 50, of Miami Beach, claims the largest FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot, an estimated $56.37 million, won by a single winner, breaking the previous 13-year single-winner record set by Sheelah Ryan, of Winter Springs, who won $55.16 million.
Jul 16
Major changes are made to the Florida Lottery's second-most popular Online game, FANTASY 5. The top prize increased to $100,000 as the result of a new 5-of-36 matrix. In addition, players who pick 2-of-5 winning numbers win a free FANTASY 5 Quick Pick ticket and, if no player selects the correct 5-of-5 winning numbers, the top prize "rolls down" to increase the 4-of-5 prize amount.
Jun 20
The Lottery transfers $11 billion dollar into the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. This is accomplished after a record $2.272 billion in net sales for fiscal year 2000-2001 and $907 million generated for schools.
Jun 4
Florida LOTTO advance play is extended from 13 weeks to 26 weeks or 52 drawings.
May 7
The Florida Lottery announces new retailer incentive awarding a $10,000 retailer bonus to authorized Florida Lottery retailers who sell a FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot ticket. The first retailer to win a $10,000 retailer bonus was a Publix Supermarket in Satellite Beach.
Apr 3
Scratch-Off game co-promotions continue in April, May and June. The Lottery partners with Carnival Cruise Lines® and launches the CRUISE & CASH game on April 3; in partnership with Universal Studios the Lottery launches the FAME, FORTUNE & ADVENTURE game on May 1, and in partnership with Top-Flite® the Lottery launches GOLF & CASH game on June 5.
Feb 8
The Florida Lottery continues its tradition of co-promotions with the HARLEY-DAVIDSON Scratch-Off game, which offers Harley-Davidson motorcycles as prizes .
Jan 17
Priscilla and David Miller, of Lynn Haven, claim the then largest-ever MEGA MONEY jackpot of $1,199,517. The jackpot was the result of five rollovers that began December 26, 2000.
2000
Dec 9
The Florida Lottery is featured prominently in a one-hour TV documentary, "Jackpot" the Lives of Lottery Millionaires," shown nationwide on The Learning Channel. Several FLORIDA LOTTO winners are featured.
Oct 24
FLORIDA LOTTO sales increase 25 percent, or $183.4 million, one year after changes were made to the game, resulting in an additional $67.9 million transferred into the Educational Trust Fund.
Sep 1
The Florida Lottery transfers a record $908 million into the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund for fiscal year 1999-00, after achieving a record $2.24 billion in gross ticket sales.
Jul 31
The Florida Lottery teams up with several Florida police departments to combat against "Lottery Scams". As a result of TV and radio public service announcements and local news media coverage, the incidence of Lottery-related scams is reduced.
May 12
The Florida Lottery becomes the first state lottery to transfer $10 billion in a 12-year span of operation. The transfer takes place after gross ticket sales reach $26.3 billion.
May 1
The Lottery's Online gaming system contractor, AWI, begins installing
the first all-new Integra™ Online gaming terminals in retail locations throughout the state. The new terminals provide more efficient transactions for Lottery retailers and players.
Apr 28
The Florida Lottery teams up with Universal Studios Orlando to introduce its new MEN IN BLACK® Alien Attack® Scratch-Off ticket. The game sells 3.5 million tickets during the first seven weeks of sales.
Feb 7
The Lottery begins the process of replacing its Online gaming system with the introduction of MasterLink™ gaming software. Ticket sales and redemptions are suspended for six hours to accommodate the change.
1999
Oct 26
Florida Lottery sales reach a life-to-date total of $25 billion for all Scratch-Off and Online tickets.
Oct 24
FLORIDA LOTTO drawings increase to two days a week, Wednesday and Saturday at 11:00p.m. Eastern Time, other changes to the game include: increase the matrix to 6-of-53 numbers, bigger lower-tier prizes, bigger jackpots, more rollovers and more opportunities to win.
Jun 17
Governor Jeb Bush appoints David Griffin the third permanent secretary of the Florida Lottery.
Jun 1
MEGA MONEY becomes a permanent Florida Lottery Online.
Mar 18
The Florida Lottery sets national record for state lotteries after transferring $9 billion to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund after only being in existence for 11 years.
Jan 11
Governor Jeb Bush appoints Sue M. Cobb, a Miami attorney, interim Lottery Secretary.
1998
Feb 2
Florida Lottery Online game MEGA MONEY tickets go on sell. It was introduced for an 18-week trial run with jackpots averaging $200,000.
Jan 12
The Florida Lottery celebrates its 10 th anniversary. After being in existence for 10 the Lottery sold more than $21 billion in tickets, and transferred nearly $8 billion to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund.
1997
Nov 29
The Florida Lottery celebrates its 500 th Florida Lotto drawing with an estimated $26 million jackpot.
Jul 20
The Florida Lottery kicks-off the "Have A Perfect Summer" promotion, in which 40 lottery players have a chance to win a seven-night Caribbean cruise for two plus $1,000 in spending money.
Jan 29
The first of 500 new Instant Ticket Vending Machines (ITVM's) to be used for a pilot program are introduced in Winter Park.
1996
Feb 28
Barbara Arens, of Clearwater, becomes the first Florida Lottery Scratch-Off game "WIN FOR LIFE" winner to claim the $1,000-a-week-for-life grand prize.
1995
Oct
The Lottery begins airing its new weekly TV game show, "Florida Lottery's Flamingo Fortune". Shown on 11 stations statewide, it finished its four-year run in 1999.
1994
May 24
In celebration of the Florida Lottery's 6 th anniversary, the Lottery launches its first mail-in promotion, the "Great LOTTOMOBILE GIVEAWAY". Give away 50 Ford Mustang GTs as top prizes.
Jan 24
Fantasy 5 drawings expanded to five nights per week. Monday through Friday.
1993
Sep 27
Tickets go on sell for the Florida Lottery's first $2 Scratch-Off game "BINGO". The game offers a top prize of $10,000.
1991
Dec 10
The first "FLORIDA LOTTO Month" premieres with jackpots and rollovers guaranteed to be a minimum of $10 million for each week in the month of December.
Jul 4
:Florida Lottery Online game, PLAY 4 tickets go on sell. PLAY 4 is a daily four-digit game with a top-prize payout of $5,000.
Jan 8
Former Governor Lawton Chiles appoints Dr. Marcia Mann the second permanent secretary of the Florida Lottery.
1990
Sep 15
Six FLORIDA LOTTO players split a $106.5 million estimated FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot after a record four rollovers. Each winner is paid $17.75 million.
Sep 14
The Florida Lottery sets a then new state record for single-day ticket sales of more than $30 million as a result of a estimated $100 million FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot.
1989
Apr 28
Florida Lottery Online game, FANTASY 5, tickets go on sell. Drawings were to be held Tuesday and Fridays.
1988
Sep 3
Sheelah Ryan, of Winter Springs, wins a then world record $55.16 million FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot. At the time, Ryan's jackpot was the largest lottery jackpot ever paid to a sole winner.
Aug 31
An estimated $52 million FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot is announced, setting a then new national and world record for LOTTO jackpots.
May 31
Josie Moore, 36, of Port Charlotte wins the first FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot. The jackpot amount was an estimated $14 million, paid in 20 annual installments.
May 7
The first FLORIDA LOTTO drawing is held at 11:00p.m. Eastern Time in Tallahassee. No one selected the six winning numbers
Apr 29
First two Florida Lottery Online games, FLORIDA LOTTO™ and CASH 3™ tickets go on sell. The first FLORIDA LOTTO jackpot is an estimated $2 million.
Feb 13
Thomas W. Sawyer becomes the Florida Lottery's first millionaire when he wins the "Instant Game Million-Dollar Grand Prize Drawing", held in Clearwater.
Jan 29
The Florida Lottery pays back $15.5 million to the General Revenue Fund for startup loan plus interest.
Jan 12
Ticket sales begin for the first-ever Florida Lottery Scratch-Off game "Millionaire". First-week ticket sales exceed $95 million.
1987
Jul 16
Former Governor Bob Martinez appoints Rebecca Paul the first permanent secretary of the Florida Lottery.
1986
Nov 4
By a two-to-one margin, Florida voters approve a constitutional amendment authorizing the state to operate a Lottery.
