Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jan 14, 2012
goldie11111,
A lot of people agree with you on more winners vs one individual, this is from the Powerball website FAQ page:
I HAVE A GAME IDEA; YOU SHOULD GIVE 200 PEOPLE $1 MILLION EACH.
We do get mail from persons offering ideas that promise to double or triple our sales in the game. We also get a lot of mail that starts - "Everyone I talk to agrees that Powerball should pay more and smaller prizes, who needs $XXX million!!!" These writers usually get extremely angry when we try to explain why their idea won't work - so we prefer to use this standard response. Please accept this response with our apologies for not recognizing how very right you are:
(1) If you are sending in a game idea with no demand for payment: Thank you for your idea and comments, we will certainly pass it on to the design team; will run it by our very expensive patent law firm for a review of other possible patent infringement ideas (so we don't get sued); and then will develop and run qualitative and quantitative research to test the concept with a mix of players.
(2) If you are sending in a game idea and demand payment: Please understand that we cannot accept game ideas. If you have faith in your idea you may consider seeking a patent on it (at least $10,000 and two years) or you can submit the idea to a state lottery's advertising agency. You can contact your local state lottery to find a contact for their advertising agency. The agency understands the process of reviewing your game design idea and can also assist you in protecting your idea.
(3) If you believe that we should pay out $1 million prizes to lots of persons: After players told us that in focus groups, we actually started that game. No one played. Lotteries need to create a variety of games that appeal to different players. Powerball is a game that appeals to those players who want to play for large jackpots. There are other games that offer better odds (and so, lower jackpot amounts). Sales for a Powerball drawing can vary from $16 million to $200 million. You might guess which jackpot levels bring the most sales. Players vote with their dollars on the jackpot levels they prefer and we must listen to our customers. Powerball is actually two games in one – a big jackpot game and a big Cash 5 game. By adding the Power Play option, a player can even increase the Cash 5 part of the game to a $1 million cash prize. Players who want to play for that prize level – at much better odds – can do that in Powerball and, with the Power Play, can actually redesign the prize structure to fit their wishes.
http://www.powerball.com/pb_contact.asp