1988 precursor: Lotto America Powerball's predecessor began in 1988; the multi-state game was known as
Lotto America. The game, and name, were changed to Powerball on April 19, 1992; its first drawing was held April 22.
1992: Powerball begins When it was launched in 1992 Powerball became the first game to use two drums. Using two drums to draw numbers from offers more manipulation of the probabilities by simultaneously allowing low jackpot odds, numerous prize levels, and high overall odds of winning (as explained later, a ticket can win by matching only one number). The two-drum concept was suggested by Steve Caputo of the Oregon Lottery. The two-drum concept has since been used by
The Big Game (
Mega Millions) in the US, Australia's Powerball,
Thunderball in the
UK,
Eurojackpot and
EuroMillions. Through 2008, Powerball drawings usually were held at Screenscape Studios in
West Des Moines, Iowa. The drawings' host was longtime Iowa radio personality Mike Pace, who had hosted MUSL drawings since Lotto America began in 1988. In 1996, Powerball went "on the road" for the first time, holding five remote drawings at the
Summer Olympics in Atlanta. A few weeks later, Georgia became the only jurisdiction to leave Powerball (Maine, which joined MUSL in 1990, left when Powerball began). In August 1996, Georgia joined the then-new
The Big Game, then the other major U.S. lottery group. It planned to sell tickets for
both games for the rest of 1996; but within days Georgia was removed from MUSL, not to return until the 2010 cross-sell expansion. On November 2, 1997, the
annuity was changed from 20 to 25 yearly payments and the cash option was added. In 1998,
Florida was given permission by its government to participate in a multi-state game. It was set to offer Powerball but in early 1999, new governor
Jeb Bush barred Florida from joining since he believed Powerball would hurt the existing Florida Lottery games. In 2008, Governor
Charlie Crist allowed Florida to join MUSL on January 4, 2009.
2001: Introduction of Power Play On March 7, 2001, an optional multiplier (called
Power Play) was added, allowing players to multiply non-jackpot winnings by up to five by paying an extra $1 per game. A wheel was introduced to choose the
Power Play multiplier for each drawing (the next year, the
1x was removed from the
Power Play wheel).
2009: Move to Florida With the start of Powerball sales in Florida on January 4, 2009 at its first drawing on January 7, the matrices changed to 5/59 + 1/39 (adding four white ball numbers and dropping three red balls). This changed the jackpot probability from 1:146 million to 1:195 million; the overall probability became 1:35. Based on statistical projections, the average jackpot win increased from $95 million to $141 million. Over 3.5 million additional prizes were expected to be won yearly due to the change in probability. The starting jackpot increased to $20 million, with minimum rollovers of $5 million. The jackpot contribution increased from 30.3% to 32.5% of total sales. The Power Play option was modified; second prize, usually $200,000, was given an automatic 5x multiplier, making the 5+0 prize $1 million cash. The bonus second prize if the jackpot exceeded its previous record by $25 million, triggered only twice, was eliminated with the 2012 format change. The conditions for Florida joining Powerball included a move of the live drawings from Iowa to
Universal Studios in
Orlando. The three hosts rotating announcing duties from Universal Studios were Tracy Wiu, Elizabeth Hart and Scott Adams (MUSL headquarters remained in Iowa, where its other draws are held). The wheel that was used to determine the Power Play multiplier was retired when the drawings moved to Florida; a
random number generator (RNG) was used until the 2012 format change.
Arkansas became the 33rd MUSL member on October 31, 2009, the last to join before the 2010 cross-sell expansion. The
Ohio Lottery added Powerball on April 16, 2010, it joined
Mega Millions (along with New York) years earlier, when
The Big Game added
Mega Millions to its name.
2010: Cross-sell expansion In March 2009, it was reported that
New Jersey, already a Mega Millions member, sought permission to join Powerball. Shortly after, discussions were revealed about allowing each US lottery to offer both games. On October 13, the Mega Millions consortium and MUSL reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball. In November, MUSL signed an agreement to start streaming Powerball drawings online. On January 31, 2010, the date of the cross-sell expansion, Mega Millions and MUSL each added lotteries; eight Powerball members added Mega Millions by May. The Montana Lottery joined Mega Millions on March 1, 2010. Nebraska added Mega Millions on March 20, 2010, Oregon followed on March 28, 2010, Arizona joined Mega Millions on April 18, 2010, Maine added Mega Millions on May 9, 2010, Colorado and South Dakota joined Mega Millions on May 16, 2010. The U.S. Virgin Islands joined Mega Millions in October 2010. Before the agreement, the only places that sold both Mega Millions and Powerball tickets were retailers straddling a border; one retailer on the
Sharon, Pennsylvania/
Masury, Ohio, border sold both Mega Millions (via the
Ohio Lottery) and Powerball (
Pennsylvania) before the agreement and continued to be the only retailer to sell tickets for both lotteries.
Illinois joining Powerball on the expansion date, it became the second multi-jurisdictional lottery game (after Mega Millions, in which Illinois already participated) whose drawings were carried nationally. Both games' drawings were simulcast via
Chicago cable
superstation WGN-TV through its national
WGN America feed. WGN-TV aired Illinois Lottery drawings nationally from 1992 to 2015 after acquiring broadcast rights from Chicago's Fox
owned-and-operated station WFLD in 1988, which took the rights from WGN-TV in 1987. Powerball drawings were aired on WGN-TV and WGN America on Wednesday and Saturday immediately following the station's 9:00 p.m. (
Central Time) newscast, with the Mega Millions drawings being aired Tue and Fri evenings after the newscast. WGN served as a default carrier of Mega Millions or Powerball where no local television station carries either multi-jurisdictional lottery's drawings. On March 13, 2010, New Jersey became the first previous Mega Millions-only member (just before the cross-selling expansion) to produce a jackpot-winning Powerball ticket. It was worth over $211 million in annuity payments; it was sold in
Morris Plains. On May 28, 2010, North Carolina became the first previous MUSL member (just before the cross-selling expansion) to produce a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket; that jackpot was $12 million (annuity). On June 2, 2010, Ohio won a Powerball jackpot; it became the first lottery selling
either Mega Millions
or Powerball (when 2010 began) to provide a jackpot-winning ticket for its newer game. The ticket was worth a $261 million annuity; it was sold in
Sunbury. Ohio's second Powerball jackpot-winning ticket, sold for the June 23, 2010, drawing, was part of another first; since Montana also provided a jackpot winner for that drawing, it was the first time a jackpot was shared through lotteries which sold competing games before the cross-selling expansion, as Montana sold only Powerball before the expansion date.
2012 format change On January 15, 2012, the price of each basic Powerball play doubled to $2, while PowerPlay games became $3; the minimum jackpot doubled to $40 million, with at least a $10 million rollover for each drawing without a jackpot winner. A non-jackpot play matching the five white balls won $1 million. The red balls decreased from 39 to 35. The drawings were moved from Universal Studios Orlando to the Florida Lottery's studios in Tallahassee. Sam Arlen began his tenure as host in 2012, while Laura W. Johnson served as Arlen’s co-host. These changes were made to increase the frequency of nine-figure jackpots; a Powerball
spokesperson believed a $500 million jackpot was feasible (it became a reality within the year,) and that the first $1 billion jackpot in US history would occur by 2012 (though it didn't occur until 4 years later.) Less than three months after the Powerball changes, Mega Millions' jackpot reached $656,000,000 despite remaining a $1-per-play game. The random
Power Play multiplier was retired for a set, fixed dollar amount payout. The $25 million rollover "cap" (creating larger 5+0 prizes) was eliminated. California joined on April 8, 2013; it has never offered the
Power Play option, as all payouts in California Lottery drawing games, by law, are
parimutuel. Mega Millions, which became available in California in 2005, offers its
Megaplier in its other 45 jurisdictions. On January 22, 2014, the variable Power Play option returned (2x-5x) for multiplying non-jackpot prizes. Three months later, the format produced a $1.5 billion jackpot, double the previous record, after 20 consecutive rollovers.
2020 COVID-19 adjustments and 2021 provisional removal by Idaho On April 2, 2020, the Powerball starting jackpot amount was temporarily reset from $40 million to $20 million with the annuity option, with at least a $2 million rollover for each drawing without a jackpot winner, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. This was done to enforce
social distancing and discourage crowding of selling venues for large jackpots, and to account for lower interest rates. On March 10, 2021, following Powerball's move to expand its operations in
Australia later that year and in the
United Kingdom in 2022, the
Idaho Legislature voted overwhelmingly to end the state's participation in the lottery after more than 30 years. State lawmakers cited fears of its domestic revenue from the games being used by those governments for issues the state's Republican majority opposed as reasons behind the vote. The removal would have taken place when non-US jurisdictions were allowed to join in August 2021, but was rendered moot when the expansion was put on hold.
2021 addition of Monday drawings and introduction of Double Play On May 23, 2021, Powerball announced that starting on August 23, 2021, draws would occur on Monday, in addition to Wednesday and Saturday. Along with the new Monday drawings, a new Double Play option was added for 12 states (including host state Florida) and Puerto Rico, allowing players to reuse their Powerball numbers in a second drawing (held 30 minutes after the main drawing) for a chance to win a $10 million top prize by paying an extra $1 per game. Due to technical difficulties that occurred before the start of the new draw schedule, the first ever Monday draw did not occur on its usual time meaning that the first Monday draw did not happen as planned for the group that operates the game. Michele Lyles became the third regular hostess of the Powerball drawings serving alongside Arlen and Johnson. Randy Traynor originally served as a substitute host if neither Arlen, Johnson or Lyles are available. In 2024, Arlen retired from Powerball and the Florida Lottery and Traynor was promoted to regular host.
2022 delay The scheduled November 7, 2022, drawing of the record-breaking $2.04 billion jackpot was delayed due to incomplete security protocols regarding ticket sales at an unnamed lottery until the next day at 8:59 a.m. EST. Prior to the November 7 delay, there had been delays on April 9 and October 19th and on March 16, 2022. After the drawing was completed for the $2.04 billion Powerball Jackpot, the Minnesota Lottery announced later that week that it had been responsible for the delay. Lottery officials there said there was a technical problem with the communication system that prevented the drawing from occurring.
2026 UK Expansion On April 13, 2026, Powerball and
Allwyn UK announced the expansion of the game to the UK through the
National Lottery. This will be the first expansion outside of the United States. The UK version of the game will feature differing lower pier pizes and prize pools including a 2 main number tier, only the Jackpot tier will be shared. The first UK draw will take place later this summer. == System of the game ==