Altered Consumer Behavior, Interest Rates Prompt Jackpot Game Changes
Iowa Lottery "Multi-Draw" Players Eligible for Free Plays
CLIVE, Iowa — The evolving COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on everyday life has now prompted changes in each of the nation's premier jackpot games.
Following an announcement earlier in the week in the Powerball® game, the Mega Millions® group has adopted similar changes. In both games, the starting jackpot amount will be eliminated along with any minimum amount that the jackpot will grow between drawings. Instead, both amounts will be determined on a drawing-by-drawing basis and announced ahead of the next upcoming drawing.
The adjustments are necessary to ensure that ticket sales in both games can support their jackpots and other prizes. The deepening COVID-19 public health emergency has drastically impacted life for us all and altered normal consumer behavior, including ticket purchases in Powerball and Mega Millions. Interest rates also have declined amidst the health crisis, and that in turn drives down the annuity amount of the games' jackpots.
The timing of the changes in each game is slightly different, based upon its drawing schedule. Mega Millions drawings are at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, while Powerball drawings are at 9:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
In Mega Millions: The jackpot for Friday's drawing remains an estimated $121 million annuity, $96.7 million lump-sum option. If the jackpot is won that night, it will reset to a guaranteed $20 million for Tuesday's drawing (April 7). If there is no jackpot winner Friday, the game's grand prize will roll to an estimated $127 million annuity for Tuesday. From that point on, the game's starting jackpot and the rate at which the jackpot increases will be based upon sales and interest rates, with no fixed minimums.
In Powerball: The jackpot for Saturday's drawing remains an estimated $180 million annuity, $144.8 million lump-sum option. If the jackpot is won that night, it will reset to a guaranteed $20 million annuity for Wednesday's drawing (April 8). If there is no jackpot winner Saturday, the game's grand prize will roll to an estimated $190 million annuity for Wednesday. From that point on, the game's starting jackpot and the rate at which the jackpot increases will be based upon sales and interest rates, with no fixed minimums.
The leadership of the Powerball Product Group and the Mega Millions Consortium, which are made of up the member-lottery directors in each game, will determine the jackpot details for it.
The Iowa Lottery understands that some of its players may have utilized the "multi-draw"” function to purchase plays in future Powerball and Mega Millions drawings. Those plays, of course, will still be valid, but are now subject to the upcoming jackpot changes.
As a goodwill gesture to those players, the Iowa Lottery is making available free-play coupons for use in future drawings of the game involved. To be eligible for free-play coupons:
- In Mega Millions, an Iowa Lottery player must have purchased a multi-draw ticket no later than 4 p.m. Friday (April 3) for a Mega Millions drawing held on April 7 or later.
- In Powerball, an Iowa Lottery player must have purchased a multi-draw ticket no later than 4 p.m. Thursday (April 2) for a Powerball drawing held on April 8 or later.
Please see the details that the lottery has on the Powerball and Mega Millions pages of its website at www.ialottery.com.
Players with multi-draw ticket in Powerball and Mega Millions should keep them for any of the upcoming drawings for which they were purchased.
Powerball and Mega Millions are both lotto games with jackpots that have climbed into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The games' designs are slightly different and they are each sold by dozens of U.S. lotteries.
Players in $2 Mega Millions choose their first five numbers from a pool of 70, and another number - called the Mega Ball - from a separate pool of 25. The Megaplier option is available for an extra $1 per play.
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.
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