North Carolina to Add Mega Millions

In the recent past most states offered lottery players either Powerball or Mega Millions. Many states are starting to offer players both mega jackpot lotteries in an attempt to boost lottery ticket sales and add more revenues to strapped state treasuries. Recently Tennessee agreed to offer its lottery players both lotteries and now North Carolina will offer players both Powerball and Mega Millions.

North Carolina's lottery commission recently voted to add the multi state Mega Millions lottery to North Carolina's lottery menu. The Mega Millions lottery is expected to be available for North Carolina lottery players by January 2010. The addition of Mega Millions will give players four chances to win every week during two weekly drawings. Mega Millions jackpots routinely top $100 million dollars. Despite astronomical odds both Powerball and mega Millions attract millions of players on a regular basis. Powerball odds stand at 1 in 195,249,054 and Mega Millions odds are 1 in 175,711,536.

States that offer lotteries usually offer only one of the multi state games. Both Virginia and Georgia are expected to offer both games in the future. Many see the addition of both lotteries in many states as a move towards a national lottery which could be offered as early as fall 2010. North Carolina Lottery Executive Director Tom Shaheen, who is also president of the association of Powerball states, expects a significant increase in ticket sales. An 18 to 25% increase in ticket sales is predicted which could mean $38 million to $52 million more lottery dollars.

Dipak Desai, manager of the Ballantyne BP on Ballantyne Commons Parkway which is one of the biggest Charlotte area Powerball ticket sellers stated, "In a bad economy like this, people are trying to look for every bit of luck they can find." The addition of Mega Millions could actually create a few new jobs in North Carolina. Cathy Oreshack, a clerk at the BP station located at Spring Forest Road in Raleigh said, "Both of them are going to have huge jackpots two days a week, and that's going to require more manpower in the store."

If states want to get serious about increasing lottery generated revenue they may want to consider allowing the sale of online lottery tickets. Allowing players to buy online lottery tickets would boost sales and be a big convenience for players. Ideally players could buy online lottery tickets from a home computer or mobile device. Adding 21st century technology would easily benefit state lotteries and help states to close budget gaps.