Powerball Excitement Soars with Record $425 Million Jackpot
By: Blake Deshazo
Updated: November 26, 2012
Tallahassee -
History will be made Wednesday
night when millions of players vie for the biggest POWERBALL jackpot
ever offered by the game. Wednesday's estimated $425 million jackpot is
currently the largest in the world, and is
generating excitement among both the game's loyal players as well as
many who will be playing for the first time.
"We are thrilled that this series of POWERBALL jackpot rollovers has generated approximately $45 million
in unanticipated revenue for education in our state," said Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O'Connell.
Prior to POWERBALL's redesign in January, many players had been asking for a greater variety of significant prizes
to be available, while still having the ability to play for the big, multi-million dollar jackpot. The new prize structure appears to be fulfilling that request.
"Moving
to a $2 game created bigger jackpots for POWERBALL but also allowed the
game to offer a second prize of $1
million in cash," said Jim Haynes, Director of the Nebraska Lottery and
President of the Multi-State Lottery Association's Board of Directors,
"We expect to create well over 400 new millionaires each year, just from
the Match 5 prize".
Norm
Lingle, Executive Director of the South Dakota Lottery and Chairman of
the Powerball Game Group, says, "The game
change has been a great success for the benefit programs supported by
lotteries. Sales in the new game are up 35% over the previous year."
In addition to POWERBALL's
success
for Florida players and retailers across the county, the game also
benefits a variety of worthy causes supported by the Florida Lottery -
education. In just 11 months time, the new version of POWERBALL has
generated $350 million for Florida Lottery
beneficiaries.
While
large jackpots generate excitement among players, the Lottery wants to
remind players to
play responsibly and not spend beyond their means. As with all lottery
products, players must be 18 years of age or older to purchase POWERBALL
tickets.
Since
its inception in April 1992 in 15 states with jackpots that started at a
guaranteed $2 million, POWERBALL has
grown into the world's biggest and most recognized lottery game. Today
it's played in 44 jurisdictions across the nation, with players buying
more than $3 billion annually in POWERBALL tickets. The biggest jackpot
in the game so far was a $365 million prize
split by eight co-workers at a Nebraska meat-packing plant in February
2006.
About Powerball
Powerball drawings are Wednesdays and Saturdays at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time, 9:59 p.m. Central Time, 8:59 p.m. Mountain
Time and 7:59 p.m. Pacific Time. For more information about Powerball please visit www.powerball.com.
The
44 U.S. lotteries where Powerball is available are: Arizona Lottery,
Arkansas Lottery, Colorado Lottery, Connecticut
Lottery Corporation, D.C. Lottery & CGCB, Delaware State Lottery,
Florida Lottery, Georgia Lottery Corporation, Hoosier Lottery, Idaho
Lottery, Illinois Lottery, Iowa Lottery, Kansas Lottery, Kentucky
Lottery Corporation, Louisiana Lottery Corporation, Maine
Lottery, Maryland Lott, Massachusetts Lottery, Michigan Lottery,
Minnesota State Lottery, Missouri Lottery, Montana Lottery, Nebraska
Lottery, New Hampshire Lottery Commission, New Jersey Lottery, New
Mexico Lottery Authority, New York Lottery, North Carolina
Education Lottery, North Dakota Lottery, Ohio Lottery, Oklahoma Lottery,
Oregon Lottery, Pennsylvania Lottery, Rhode Island Lottery, South
Carolina Education Lottery, South Dakota Lottery, Tennessee Education
Lottery, Texas Lottery, U.S. Virgin Islands Lottery,
Vermont Lottery, Virginia Lottery, Washington Lottery, Wisconsin Lottery
and the West Virginia Lottery.
