Breaking: Powerball Nears All-Time Record, Hitting $1.2 Billion for Wednesday Drawing

Powerball continues to close in on a world record, with an estimated jackpot of $1.2 billion up for grabs on Wednesday night.

The next drawing will be the second-highest in Powerball’s history, after 38 consecutive drawings where no one matched all six numbers to win the grand prize. According to the non-profit Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which runs Powerball, the last time a winning ticket matched all six numbers was August 3, 2022, in Pennsylvania.

Excitement has been building since then. The grand prize climbed to $825 million for the October 29 drawing. After no one won, the top award topped $1 billion for a drawing on Halloween night.

The record for a Powerball jackpot is $1.586 billion, which was drawn on January 13, 2016, and split between winners in California, Florida, and Tennessee. MUSL said Wednesday’s Powerball drawing would also be the fourth-largest prize in US lottery history.

“This is the largest Powerball prize in more than six years,” said Powerball Product Group Chair Drew Svitko. “The jackpot is getting bigger with every ticket sold, and players should feel good knowing that a portion of their ticket purchase is staying in their state to benefit good causes such as education, veterans, and senior citizens.”

Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. The odds of winning the grand prize are 1-in-292.2 million. The overall odds of winning a prize in Powerball are 1-in-24.9.

Factors in Breaking the All-Time Record

Winners of the grand prize have two options to claim their winnings. The more popular option is to receive one lump sum payment — for Wednesday’s drawing, which equates to approximately $596.7 million. The other option is to receive the total amount through an annuity paid over a 29-year period.

In an exclusive, Svitko, who also serves as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, told US Gaming Review that while “the record of $1.586 billion that we had back in 2016 is within reach, it depends on a couple of factors — including the number of tickets being sold and interest rates.

“The advertised prize is based on the annuity, and that’s where the second factor in determining the jackpot comes in — as higher interest rates cause annuities to grow more quickly. Put another way, the $596.7 million in cash is funneled into investments that will eventually pay out $1.2 billion, and those investments grow faster as interest rates rise.”

States Have Been Big Winners

States taking part in Powerball have had a windfall with the growing grand prize.

Danielle Frizzi-Babb, Communications Director with the Ohio Lottery Commission, told US Gaming Review that the Commission projects $12 million in tickets will be sold in Ohio for the Wednesday night drawing.

“If someone in Ohio wins the jackpot, the state will receive $23,868,000 in taxes from the prize,” Frizzi-Babb said. She added that for the drawing on Halloween, “sales reached $8.9 million, which resulted in $3.4 million in profits for education in Ohio.”

Schools in Virginia have also benefited from the massive jackpot.

“We are on pace to hit about $6.3 million in sales today alone,” Jennifer Mullen, Director of Public Affairs and Community Relations for the Virginia Lottery, said Wednesday. “Since August 3, the last time the jackpot was won, we estimate $24.6 million in profits will have been generated and, by law, all those profits benefit our K-12 public schools.”

Jake Harris, Player Relations Manager for the Michigan Lottery, said that Powerball players in Michigan are “taking notice” of the near-record grand prize.

“So far, players have bought nearly 2 million tickets at retailers for tonight’s drawing,” Harris said Wednesday. “Today, players have been buying about 165,000 tickets per hour.”

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