Lotto 6aus49 in Thüringen

Thuringia sits in the solid middle for Lotto stakes: €41 per capita, rank 8 out of 16. As a share of disposable income, 0.16 percent makes Thuringia one of the states with a relatively higher Lotto share despite lower incomes. That constellation is not unusual: in states with lower average incomes, a higher share is often played. It is a pattern visible over decades.

What makes Thuringia special in Lotto terms is legally fixed sports funding. Under the Thuringian Gambling Act, six percent of all stakes flow directly to organised sport. That is a remarkably high fixed share by German standards. From 2016 to 2024, it meant at least €9.58 million per year for the Thuringian state sports association. In 2024, that threshold was clearly exceeded for the first time at €10.22 million.

The scale becomes clearer from the perspective of the state sports association. LOTTO funds make up as much as 50 percent of the LSB budget. Since the partnership began, more than €250 million has flowed to organised sport in Thuringia. Without this reliable and plannable financing, organised Thuringian sport would have a serious structural problem.

One concrete docking point is Oberhof, the winter-sports stronghold in the Thuringian Forest. LOTTO Thüringen is the naming sponsor of the sports facilities there and has supported elite sport for more than 30 years as the largest sponsor in the Free State. If you play Lotto in Erfurt or Jena, you are quite likely also funding biathlon training hours or maintenance of the bobsleigh track in Oberhof. Funds also reach local clubs directly.

Thuringia otherwise follows the ministry model for distributing Lotto money. Alongside the statutory sports sixth, social and cultural projects, heritage protection and nature and environmental protection are funded through the relevant ministries. The sports-sixth rule is the defining element, though. Unlike Saarland, where the state sports association is even a shareholder in the lottery company, Lotto and sport in Thuringia are separate organisations connected by a fixed legal quota.