COLUMBUS — Adding a multistate game to Ohio's lottery seems to be having the effect desired by state officials — increased sales and profits.

        Compared with the same period a year ago, ticket sales were up 8.3 percent, and profits increased $7.1 million in the one month since the Ohio Lottery added Mega Millions.

        “We're definitely up in those areas because of the addition,” lottery spokesman Dan Price said Tuesday. “There's no question about it.”

        Gov. Bob Taft and state lawmakers approved Ohio's participation in a multistate game in December to generate revenue to help patch a $1.5 billion deficit. The state hopes to raise about $41 million a year from Mega Millions sales.

        A coalition of church groups and antigambling activists has sued the state over its decision to join the multistate game, arguing that the Ohio Constitution permits only a lottery run exclusively by Ohio with no involvement by other states.

        The first Mega Millions ticket was sold in Ohio on May 15.

        Through Friday, the Ohio Lottery sold $22.7 million in tickets for both Mega Millions and Super Lotto Plus. That's a $1.7 million increase over the $21 million in sales the state saw during the same period last year, when Super Lotto Plus was the only lotto game available.

        During the first month of Mega Millions, the state collected $168.4 million in profits compared with $161.3 million during the same five weeks of 2001. By law, all lottery profits go to the Ohio Department of Education, making up about 6 percent of the department's budget.

        With the start of Mega Millions, Super Lotto Plus sales declined 18.2 percent compared with the previous month, but the game still managed to outsell the new multistate lottery.

        Super Lotto Plus had $13.4 million in sales, while Mega Millions recorded $9.3 million in sales.

        The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are one in 135 million, compared to one in 14 million for Super Lotto Plus.

        It is too early to tell if the multistate lottery is successful in Ohio, said David Zanotti, president of the Ohio Roundtable, a group fighting Mega Millions.

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