China’s 2018 FIFA World Cup sports lottery sales demolished previous records, despite fierce competition from unauthorized online gambling sites.

According to the Chinese government’s official sports lottery website, total sales throughout the World Cup hit RMB46.34b (US$6.9b), nearly quadruple the sum generated during the 2014 tournament. The result came in slightly below early estimates of a RMB50b tally, but it’s a staggering achievement, all the same.

The government said that payouts to sports lottery players totaled RMB33.8b, leaving the government with gross revenue of RMB8.34b ($1.24b) from the month-long tournament in Russia, funds that will go toward social welfare programs.

On July 15th, the date of the final match between France and Croatia, sports lottery sales hit a record high of RMB2.74b, while the highest single-day sales total in the 2014 tourney was a comparatively puny RMB874m. Average daily sales over the 2018 event were RMB1.4b, roughly what the sports lottery was earning per week prior to the event kicking off in June.