Lotteries look back on three decades of winning

By Kate Northrop

Powerball, one of the largest draw-based lottery games in the United States, is turning 30 years old this week.

State lotteries across the country are celebrating Powerball's 30th anniversary this week by taking a look back on some of their biggest local winners in the game's history.

"Happy birthday to Powerball," North Carolina Lottery Executive Director Mark Michalko said. "No game has produced bigger dreams in North Carolina than the Powerball game. We've seen players win jackpots as high as $344 million and the biggest win of all comes with the $1 billion raised for education."

30 years ago, on April 19, 1992, tickets for Powerball went on sale for the very first time. The first drawing for the game took place on April 22, 1992.

Since then, the game has created 1.75 billion prize winners and has generated over $27 billion for public services and programs throughout the United States.

"For 30 years, Powerball has been America's jackpot game," Powerball Product Group Chair and Missouri Lottery Executive Director May Scheve Reardon said in a press release. "We want to thank our players who have joined us on this journey and dreamed of winning Powerball. Every Powerball ticket purchased has raised money to benefit good causes supported by U.S. lotteries such as education, veterans, senior citizens, and environmental conservation."

Powerball currently holds the record for producing some of the largest jackpot winners in lottery history, including the world record $1.586 billion jackpot from January 2016, which was split by three winning tickets in California, Florida, and Tennessee.

Over the past three decades, there have also been 393 jackpot-winning tickets in the game, as well as 470 $2 million-winning tickets and 2,424 $1 million-winning tickets. In all, the game has paid out $25 billion in jackpot prizes and $23 billion in lower-tier cash prizes.

So far in 2022, the Powerball jackpot has been won twice, with two tickets in California and Wisconsin splitting a $632.6 million prize on January 5 and one ticket in Connecticut hitting a jackpot worth $185.3 million on February 14.

One share of the $632.6 million jackpot from January was claimed a month after the draw by a jubilant married couple from Oneida, Wisconsin.

Players might choose to celebrate Powerball's 30th birthday by picking up a ticket or two for Wednesday's $370 million jackpot. There have been 27 consecutive drawings since February 16 without a jackpot winner. According to USA Mega, the estimated cash value for this Wednesday's drawing is $222.8 million before taxes.

"The game Hoosiers love is turning 30!" Hoosier Lottery Executive Director and MUSL Board President Sarah M. Taylor said. "Over the past three decades, we have continued to set our sights on exciting and innovative opportunities for the Powerball brand."

In August 2021, the game added its third Monday drawing and added the new Double Play feature. The Maryland Lottery became the very first lottery to sell the nation's first $10 million-winning Powerball Double Play ticket in September 2021.

Powerball is played in 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays at 10:59 pm EST. Tickets cost $2 each.

Lottery website USA Mega publishes the winning Powerball numbers within minutes of each drawing and includes detailed information about each drawing, including the official drawing video, number of winners in each prize category, news, and upcoming jackpot amounts.