Two Giant-Jackpot Games For Iowa

There’s huge lottery news in Iowa this weekend! Starting Sunday, you can buy tickets in both of the country’s premier big-jackpot games when Mega Millions® joins Powerball® on the list of lotto games sold in Iowa.

The addition means players in Iowa will be able to play for even more big lotto prizes.  With Mega Millions drawings on Tuesday and Friday nights and Powerball drawings on Wednesdays and Saturdays, you’ll have four chances each week to hit it big!

With more people playing, we expect the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots to grow bigger and faster than they would have on their own. And, we expect more winners to be taking home more prizes.

Powerball and Mega Millions are both lotto games with jackpot prizes that have climbed into the hundreds of millions of dollars. But to date, the games have been sold by separate groups of lotteries. U.S. lottery directors reached an agreement in October to allow what’s being called “cross-selling” of the two games.

Here in Iowa, we think the biggest impact will be felt in eastern Iowa, and specifically along our border with Illinois. Illinois is the only state bordering Iowa that’s been a member of Mega Millions rather than Powerball, so when the two games’ jackpots have been big, players have driven back and forth to buy tickets. Now Iowa Lottery players will be able to buy all their tickets right here at home.

The Iowa Lottery has had six Powerball jackpot winners. The largest Powerball jackpot won in Iowa was a $200.8 million prize claimed in October 2006 by a Fort Dodge couple. Now we’re looking forward to seeing who will be our state’s first Mega Millions jackpot winner!