The Taiwan Sports Lottery generated NT$24 billion (about US$750 million) in sales last year. This is the highest figure in the lottery’s six-year history.
Taiwan Sports Lottery president Ted Lin said on Friday that the surge in sales last year was due to the FIFA World Cup and the Asian Games. He said these two sporting events alone generated NT$3 billion in sales. However, Lin said there is still room to grow.
"According to international indicators, we estimate that the sports lottery can make up 0.3% of our GDP," said Lin.
"Our GDP is around 16 or 17 trillion, and this times 0.3% means that our sports lottery should reach a scale of NT$50 billion. Our sales only amounted to NT$24 billion, so we should still have huge room for growth," he said.
Under current laws, 10% of Taiwan Sports Lottery ticket sales will be used to fund the development of sports and charity projects.