Mavis Wanczyk, of Chicopee, Mass., stands by a poster of her winnings during a news conference where she claimed the $758.7 million Powerball prize at Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Braintree, Mass. Officials said it is the largest single-ticket Powerball prize in U.S. history. At left is state treasurer Deb Goldberg. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Mavis Wanczyk, of Chicopee, Mass., stands by a poster of her winnings during a news conference where she claimed the $758.7 million Powerball prize at Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017, in Braintree, Mass. Officials said it is the largest single-ticket Powerball prize in U.S. history. At left is state treasurer Deb Goldberg. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) Credit: Josh Reynolds

Boston — The historic Powerball prize claimed by a Massachusetts woman last week focused new attention on the state lottery, a vital, if not always well understood, cog in state and local government.

Lottery officials were beaming Thursday when Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old hospital worker from Chicopee, emerged as the sole winner of the $758 million jackpot — the largest ever won with a single ticket.

By most accounts, Massachusetts has operated one of the country’s most successful state lotteries, yet it faces a number of future challenges, including a decision on whether to allow its games to be played online.

Since its inception in 1972, the lottery has sold $110 billion in tickets, awarded $77 billion in prizes and distributed $25 billion in funding to cities and towns, according to state officials. Lottery revenues are the largest source of unrestricted municipal aid in Massachusetts.

In fiscal year 2017, which ended June 30, the lottery exceeded $1 billion in net profits for the first time. Total lottery sales actually slipped about $140 million from the previous fiscal year, though still topped $5 billion for the third straight year.

Massachusetts has long boasted of having the highest percentage prize payout of any state lottery. That figure was 72 percent in fiscal 2017, when nearly $3.7 billion in prizes were handed out.

By trimming administrative costs 5 percent, lottery officials said they were able to boost profits and keep payouts high despite the drop in sales.

Retailers sold more than $13 million in Powerball tickets ahead of Wednesday’s multi-state drawing.

Two massive Powerball jackpots in the 2016 fiscal year generated a combined $56.8 million in sales.

In fiscal 2017, without a blockbuster drawing, total Powerball sales fell $47.2 million, officials noted.

You can buy most things online these days, but not Massachusetts lottery tickets.

A bill that would permit the Massachusetts Lottery Commission to conduct some of its games online or through mobile applications has been filed.

Democratic state Treasurer Deb Goldberg, whose office oversees the lottery, herself has expressed reservations about online sales in the past, particularly the effect on neighborhood convenience stores and other small retailers. Lottery agents around the state earned $292 million in commissions and bonuses from winning tickets in the last fiscal year. Online sales also raise concerns about minors buying tickets, or the prospect of Massachusetts residents losing out on prizes to out-of-state buyers. Nonetheless, Goldberg and others say the lottery must come to terms with the consumer habits of millennials and other young people, or face a future with an aging customer base and diminishing sales — boosted only occasionally by giant jackpots.