Georgia Lottery ticket sales declined about $29 million during fiscal 2017 according to lottery officials. However the amount of money sent to school programs increased. Ticket sales pay for HOPE scholarships and pre-kindergarten classes. The lottery transferred $1.101 billion to those programs during fiscal 2017, up from $1.097 billion in 2016. Ticket sales have been down only a few years since the games started in 1993.