Altered Consumer Behavior, Interest Rates Prompt Powerball® Changes
Iowa Lottery "Multi-Draw" Players Eligible for Free Plays
CLIVE, Iowa — The evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on everyday life is prompting further changes in the Powerball game that will take effect immediately following the April 8 drawing.
Following the April 8 drawing, the guaranteed starting jackpot in Powerball will be eliminated as will the minimum amount that the jackpot would increase between drawings. For drawings after April 8, the leadership of the Powerball Product Group will determine the starting jackpot amount and any jackpot growth between drawings, and will announce those details before each drawing.
The adjustments are necessary to ensure that Powerball ticket sales can support the game's jackpot and other prizes.
This is the second announcement of adjustments in the game within two weeks. The Powerball Product Group had announced plans on March 25 to reduce the game's starting jackpot to $20 million annuity with a $2 million minimum jackpot increase between drawings.
Since then, the COVID-19 public health emergency has continued to deepen, drastically impacting life for us all and altering normal consumer behavior, including ticket purchases in Powerball. Interest rates also have declined amidst the health crisis, and that in turn drives down the annuity amount of the game's jackpots.
The Powerball Product Group therefore revisited the game's jackpot details this week and determined that the changes announced Thursday were necessary. The Powerball Product Group is comprised of the directors of the lotteries that offer the game.
The Iowa Lottery understands that some of its players may have utilized the "multi-draw" function to purchase plays in future Powerball drawings. Those plays, of course, will still be valid, but are now subject to the jackpot changes made by the Powerball Product Group.
As a goodwill gesture to those players, the Iowa Lottery is making available free-play coupons for use in future Powerball drawings. To be eligible, an Iowa Lottery player must have purchased a multi-draw ticket no later than 4 p.m. April 2 for a Powerball drawing held on April 8 or a later date.
Please see the details that the lottery has on the Powerball page of its website at www.ialottery.com.
Players with multi-draw Powerball tickets for the April 8 drawing or a later date should keep the tickets for now because they are still eligible for any of the upcoming drawings for which they were purchased.
Here are details about the Powerball jackpot in the game's next two drawings:
- The jackpot for Saturday's drawing (April 4) remains an estimated $180 million annuity, $144.8 million lump-sum option. If the jackpot is won on Saturday, it will reset to a guaranteed $20 million annuity for the drawing on April 8 and continue to grow based upon sales and interest rates.
- If the jackpot is not won in Saturday's drawing, it will grow to an estimated $190 million annuity for the drawing on Wednesday, April 8.
Players in $2 Powerball choose their first five numbers from a pool of 69, and another number - called the Powerball - from a separate pool of 26. The Power Play option is available for an extra $1 per play.
Since getting its start in April 1992 in 15 states with jackpots that started at a guaranteed $2 million, Powerball has grown into one of the world's biggest and most recognizable lottery games. Today Powerball is played by 48 lotteries across the country with drawings at 9:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
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