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State of Play’s TL;DR
- Low lottery sales in Tennessee are concerning to officials.
- It’s putting a strain on the state’s Hope Scholarship program, which is supported by the Tennessee Lottery.
Tennessee’s lottery slowdown is becoming more than a sales story. With lottery revenue down sharply, state-supported HOPE Scholarship funding is facing new pressure, and officials say lawmakers may eventually need to rethink how the program is funded.
Tennessee’s lottery has funded the HOPE Scholarship since the program began in 2003.
But according to Spectrum News, lower ticket sales are now threatening a model that has helped more than 2.5 million students and can award up to $6,000 a year in tuition support.
Lottery revenue fell sharply
In the fiscal year ending June 2025, Tennessee lottery revenue fell by $90 million, or about 18%, and the trend continued into June 2026.
Don Bruce, a professor at the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research, said Tennesseans are “playing the lottery a lot less,” pointing to reduced cash usage and the rise of sports betting and online gambling as factors behind the decline.
That matters because lottery proceeds help fund one of the state’s best-known education benefits. Bruce said the scholarship program helped open access to higher education and has been part of Tennessee’s broader economic progress over the past two decades.
For students, the concern is straightforward: less lottery money could mean less aid. Savanah Gill, a HOPE Scholarship recipient, said a funding decrease would mean “less opportunities for students to take that leap to go to school.”
Lawmakers may face pressure to adjust the funding model
Officials are now discussing how to offset the loss if lottery play keeps falling. Lou Hanemann, chief of external relations for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, which distributes the HOPE Scholarships, said, “Something has to be done to offset that loss,” and suggested the response may ultimately require new legislation.
The immediate question is not whether the scholarship disappears but how reductions could show up. Hanemann said the difference could be between losing access to the HOPE Scholarship altogether and seeing award amounts trimmed, such as dropping from $4,500 to $4,400.
Based on reporting by Chris Welch for Spectrum News.
