Lottery Promotion Planned This Spring To Give Away $1 Million Unclaimed Prize
Unusual Situation Results In Upcoming Promo
Production Notes: High-definition video of today's event will be available by 1 p.m. to download from the Iowa Lottery's Dropbox account. To request access to this video, please email the lottery at wmaster@ialottery.com and provide an email address for your news organization.
Digital images of Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn at the press conference and the Woo Hoo A Million For You Giveway logo are available.
CLIVE, Iowa - Lottery players will get another shot at the prize money now that a $1 million prize has expired without being claimed in Iowa.
On Thursday, the prize-claim deadline passed for a $1 million Powerball® prize won in April 2018 in central Iowa. The Iowa Lottery had issued several reminders about the unclaimed prize and held repeated events at the Nevada store where the winning ticket was purchased, but a winner never came forward.
So later this spring, the lottery will give its players another chance to win the money.
"Iowa law makes clear that unclaimed money from lottery prizes goes into our prize pools for future games and promotions. And that's exactly what we're doing with this one-time, $1 million giveaway," said Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn, noting that this is believed to be the first unclaimed $1 million prize in the lottery's 34-year history. "The lottery repeatedly called attention to the unclaimed prize during the past year, and now we'll dedicate our efforts to ensuring that this prize money finds its way to a new Iowa Lottery winner."
From May 29 through June 18, Iowa Lottery players will be able to enter a promotion called the "Woo Hoo A Million For You Giveaway" for a chance to win the $1 million prize. Any Powerball ticket purchased in Iowa during that three-week period will be eligible for entry. The drawing for the promotion's $1 million prize will be held June 19.
The promotion's name gives a nod to the lottery's long-time celebratory catch phrase of "Woo Hoo For You™." Full details and the promotion's rules will be available on the lottery's website at www.ialottery.com.
When a jackpot prize in Powerball expires without being claimed, the money is returned to the states in the game in proportion to the percentage of sales that came from each state. But because the $1 million prize that expired was at Powerball's Match 5 level, the entire $1 million will remain in Iowa to be given away as a prize.
The $1 million prize was won in the Powerball drawing on April 11, 2018, with a ticket purchased at Casey's, 1800 S. B Ave. in Nevada. It came close to winning that night's $89.7 million jackpot, matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball. The winning numbers that night were: 16-18-27-55-67 and Powerball 18. The Power Play® number was 3.
The winner or winners had until the close of business at 4 p.m. on Thursday (April 11, 2019) to claim the $1 million prize at lottery headquarters in Clive.
Casey's received a $1,000 bonus from the lottery for selling the $1 million prize at one of its stores, and that payment was made shortly after the prize was won.
In fiscal year 2018, more than $1.4 million in lottery prizes went unclaimed in Iowa.
Players in Iowa have up to 365 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in Powerball, Mega Millions®, Lucky for Life® and Lotto America®. Players have up to 90 days from the date of the drawing to claim prizes in the Iowa Lottery's Pick 3, Pick 4 and InstaPlay games. If the expiration date falls on a weekend or holiday when the lottery's offices are closed, the winner has until the close of business on the next business day to turn in the ticket.
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