Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Deal would let states sell both Powerball and Mega Millions

In May 2004, Steven White of Somerset County, N.J., crossed the Delaware River to buy a Powerball ticket that hit for $213 million.

More than a few Pennsylvanians are making the reverse trip this week, picking up tickets in New Jersey for a shot at tomorrow night's $200 million Mega Millions jackpot.

By early next year, their interstate quests may no longer be needed, thanks to a tentative agreement between the nation's two biggest multistate lotteries to let states sell tickets to both games.

The working deal, announced this week, also raises the possibility of a national lottery that could debut late next fall.

In March, Gov. Corzine's budget suggested that Powerball sales could yield $10 million a year in new revenue for New Jersey, one of a dozen Mega Millions states.

"It's a milestone lottery players in New Jersey have looked forward to for some time," State Treasurer R. David Rousseau said yesterday, adding that financial projections were premature.

Officials in Pennsylvania and Delaware, among the country's 31 Powerball states, have been more cautious about the opportunity to cross-sell the games.

Details of the agreement must be ironed out, said Stephanie Weyant, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, which oversees the state's lotteries.

The state has to weigh potential sales and profits as well as legal consequences before speculating about a timetable, Weyant said.

Delaware plans to ask what retailers and customers think before making a decision, said Lottery Director Wayne Lemons.

If all jurisdictions now participating opted in, the two lotteries would be accessible to more than 285 million people in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Such a huge pool of players would cause jackpots to grow faster and get hit sooner, potentially stoking new levels of lottery frenzy.

An even bigger game also is envisioned.

"If we develop a national game, it will probably be at a different price point," said Tom Shaheen, president of the Iowa-based Multi-State Lottery Association, which oversees Powerball.

"It might be $2. It might be $5," he said. "The other two games, I believe, would remain intact."

Each state will have to decide if it wants to participate in cross-selling or join a national lottery.

"It's totally an option for every state. They can opt out of it if they'd like to. We don't need any particular requirements as far as how many to do it," Shaheen said.

Such a super lottery could happen by next fall, said Chuck Strutt, executive director of the Powerball group.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.