LOTTERY POST EXCLUSIVE

By Kate Northrop

MARTINSVILLE, N.J. — Thursday, Lottery Post had the opportunity to speak with Mega Millions Lead Director Pat McDonald discuss some of the most common questions players are asking about the multi-state game.

In an exclusive interview with Lottery Post, McDonald also revealed that the game group is investigating potential ways to switch up the nationwide draw game.

Part of McDonald's responsibilities as Lead Director includes heading up any changes and management decisions for the game while working cohesively with the nine other states in the game group to ensure that it runs as smoothly as a well-oiled machine.

Collaborating with other states also means reaching jointly agreed-upon conclusions that ultimately shape the game's future, its sales, and its relationship with players.

WATCH: Lead Director of Mega Millions discusses potential game changes

For example, prior to COVID-19 impacting sales in the United States, Mega Millions and Powerball advertised starting jackpots of $40 million with set minimum increases between draws at $5 million and $10 million, respectively. Due to declining sales, Powerball cut the starting jackpot down to $20 million in March 2020 and eliminated set increases the next week. Mega Millions followed suit right after.

Two years later, one question that players have constantly been asking is when the starting jackpots and increases for both Mega Millions and Powerball will return to their original pre-pandemic amounts.

Prior to speaking with McDonald, Lottery Post compared pre-pandemic Mega Millions sales and increases to today's numbers and found that jackpot increases between draws have returned to pre-pandemic levels. McDonald agreed that the data we are seeing absolutely supports an argument for a larger starting jackpot.

"We have been in discussions with each group, as well as our own consortium, to discuss increasing back to the $40 million [starting jackpot], but I've had some resistance from some members in the Mega Group that this is too high of a risk at this point in time because there's too many unknowns," McDonald explained.

If anything, he remarked, sales bounced back rather quickly after the initial sales drop, returning to normalcy and even setting records in some states.

However, immediately raising the starting jackpot and reverting to minimum increases is not as simple as it seems. That decision is actually part of a larger ongoing discussion around restructuring the game and potentially implementing new changes.

"There are some members that are a little adverse to it at this point in time until we look at the total picture of changes, and I think at that point in time, we'd be able to make that decision," McDonald told Lottery Post.

With Powerball implementing a third draw and having announced its intentions to grow internationally, McDonald said the Mega Millions consortium has been working together for the past couple years to figure out ways to differentiate themselves from Powerball, as long as it makes sense.

"One of the changes that we are discussing is price point, potentially moving from a $2 ticket to a $5 level ticket," McDonald revealed. "We will have sales growth with that, and the higher the jackpots are, the more players want to buy a ticket.

"We're looking at price point, restructuring the game, and lastly we have hired an independent consultant to engage the players to find out what they are thinking. What is best for the game itself?  Would they like higher jackpots or would they like more million-dollar winners across the country?"

After gathering feedback from lottery players and hearing the recommendation from their independent consultant, McDonald said they assume they'd be ready to make a decision about any game changes by mid-summer.

At the same time, McDonald added, he directed the consultant and told other lottery directors that "no change" is also a valid decision. Despite having worked on these potential game alterations for two years, he ultimately believes that the best route is whichever one helps Mega Millions and its profits succeed the most.

"We don't necessarily need to make a change just to make a change," he emphasized.

One thing about the game's future that the Lead Director is confident about is that he does not see Mega Millions becoming available internationally any time soon, unlike its Powerball counterpart.

"I don't see an appetite from any of our members to go internationally," McDonald contended. "I think that it's controversial with some states and their state laws, guidelines, and governor's philosophical views on playing internationally."

The Mega Millions game group has been monitoring Powerball's movement toward an international expansion, but the lottery director assured that it was not something that was on their table for discussion.

"That could be the distinction between us and Powerball — they're the international game, and we're the United States game," he surmised.

McDonald also spoke about the future of online gaming and sports betting in Ohio, specifically pointing toward the possibility of introducing online lottery sales ("iLottery") to the state.

McDonald covered several other interesting topics, including what's coming down the pipeline, in Lottery Post's full interview that is available on our YouTube channel right now.

Be sure to tell us what you think about our conversation in the comments section — we're excited to hear your thoughts.

Thursday, Lottery Post had the opportunity to speak with Mega Millions Lead Director Pat McDonald discuss some of the most common questions players are asking about the multi-state game.