When Powerball raised its price point for a single ticket from $1 to $2 on Jan. 15, 2012, Thomas Metzger was the vice president of lottery development at Scientific Games. Some 13 years later, now the CEO of lottery courier company Lotto.com, Metzger still remembers clearly the reaction across the industry to Powerball’s bold move.
“When Powerball went from $1 to $2 in 2012, almost half of the state lotteries thought they were crazy,” Metzger told Lottery Geeks this week. “They said, ‘You’re going to lose so many customers. Lottery has to be $1. It’s always been $1. You can’t go to $2.’”
Of course, Powerball did go to $2. And it was successful enough that five years later, in 2017, Mega Millions followed suit. And now, eight years on from that, Mega Millions is the one taking the lead on a price increase. Effective this weekend, a single Mega Millions ticket will cost $5.
