Tennessee Lottery: Mega Millions or Powerball in Tennessee by July, Paul saysTennesseans will get to play a multistate lottery game that offers giant jackpots either Powerball or Mega Millions by July 4, 2004, Rebecca Paul, who has been hired to run Tennessee's lottery, said yesterday.
An analysis will be done first to see which game would be more profitable to the Tennessee lottery, Paul told reporters.
Among things she will study is whether Tennessee could lure more Powerball players from Kentucky by offering Mega Millions, she said, or whether it could lure more Mega Millions players in Georgia by offering Powerball.
Both games are played by selecting five numbers and then a ''powerball'' or ''mega ball'' number. All numbers must match to win the jackpot.
Lottery board members have said a multistate game would be offered after the lottery is launched, but they have not given a target date.
Paul threw out the July 4 date yesterday, momentarily appeared to regret it, but ultimately stuck with it.
Tennessee lottery officials are trying to get scratch-off lottery tickets ready for sale by Feb. 17 and the electronic games by April 15. The online games allow players to select numbers through a computer terminal, but they have to wait to see whether their numbers are drawn.
Paul said she will make a recommendation on a multistate game to the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp., which will make the decision and apply for membership to one of the games.
Paul, who has worked 18 years in the lottery industry, most recently as Georgia's lottery president, said as a lottery director she has worked with both games. She conceded that her most recent ties are with Mega Millions, which she helped found in 1996 under the name of the Big Game. She said that relationship won't interfere in her recommendation.
''You have to look at both these games and see what's best for Tennessee,'' Paul said.
Although Powerball has brand recognition, Mega Millions holds the U.S. records for the two largest jackpots.
For the most part, Powerball members are smaller states 24 in all. Mega Millions has 10 member states, mostly large and medium-sized states, and Texas has been admitted. Games have not begun in Texas.
Powerball and Mega Millions are played virtually the same way but operate under different philosophies, she said.
Mega Millions has no office or administrative staff, instead parceling out duties to member states. For instance, Georgia does the drawings and Virginia maintains the Web site, Paul said. Powerball, on the other hand, has a small staff in West Des Moines, Iowa.
No state is a member of both games, although Texas officials toyed with the idea. Paul said she does not believe Powerball and Mega Millions would allow a state to offer both games.
