The national lottery scene is looking like it has a lot of changes on the horizon.
Multistate lottery draw games could appear different in the years to come, according to some of the biggest lottery names in the country.
During last week’s La Fleur’s 2024 Raleigh Conference, details were provided about changes to Mega Millions, Powerball, Cash4Life, and Lucky For Life.
Bret Toyne, the Executive Director of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), addressed the need for these games to continue to evolve:
“We’re at a point, as an industry, where I think there’s opportunity in the national games category. I’m not sure we’re taking complete advantage of that, but we need to be more proactive than we have been in the past. It’s been mostly reactive to when maybe one of those products has underperformed, or we think it could perform better, we make a change. But I think we need to be more proactive.”
National lottery games going through changes
On top of expected changes to current games, a new national draw game that features a partnership with the NFL was discussed during last week’s conference.
It’s all part of the revamped national lottery lineup that’s to come in the next few years.
While nothing is “ironclad” until things officially begin, here’s a breakdown of the upcoming changes.
Mega Millions moving to $5 ticket
The planned change of Mega Millions moving from a $2 ticket to a $5 ticket was addressed last week and seemingly confirmed.
Toyne said that the $5 ticket switch was expected to take place starting in April 2025.
What isn’t confirmed is what the new prize matrix will look like under the increased price.
Though Mega Millions isn’t run by the MUSL, it’s now become a combined effort between the organization and the 12 states that comprise the Mega Millions consortium.
“I love that as a result of this change, we’re all working together as one big industry to make it all happen,” said Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “We have lots of MUSL members represented on the various committees. That’s been a really great and positive thing.”
For Life games combining
Another big announcement from the conference was the plan to combine Lucky For Life and Cash4Life into one game.
Though many details weren’t provided, Toyne announced a spring 2026 combination of the two draw games:
“We’re looking at combining the two for life games, which have Cash4Life and Lucky For Life. That’s spring of ’26.”
Cash4Life is available in 10 states right now, while Lucky For Life is offered in 22.
NFL-MUSL game partnership
Perhaps the biggest news coming from last week’s conference is the MUSL partnering with the NFL.
Plans for a new national lottery game between the two are in the works for September 2025.
Jay Finks, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Lottery, provided info about the plans last week:
“We’re creating a national draw-based game to mimic the strengths of Powerball and Mega Millions while leveraging endemic NFL IP (intellectual property) to reach new audiences.”
In order to help differentiate the game from Mega Millions and Powerball, this NFL-themed option will feature secondary prizes like game tickets, memorabilia, experiences, and more.
Unspecified Powerball changes also coming
With adjustments to many of its peers, expect Powerball to see some alterations in the years to come, as well.
Toyne didn’t specify what was being worked on, but did throw out a 2026 timeline for Powerball to see changes:
“(Myself) and some others are working on Powerball research that you’ve heard a little bit about. We need to get that finalized. That needs to work through some of our development committees. If there is a change of Powerball, that might be fall of ’26.”
While Toyne didn’t confirm this change, he did say that MUSL has been having discussions with the United Kingdom and Australia to make the game expand beyond US borders.
The challenge with that venture is getting all regulatory authorities on the same page.
Powerball sales hitting record numbers
The reason behind the changes for Powerball isn’t because the game is struggling. If anything, it is flourishing this year.
Toyne said Powerball sales for the fiscal year, which ends June 30, sit at $6.5 billion thus far. That’s 22% greater than last year’s production at the same point.
In Pennsylvania, sales are up 15%, but Svitko says that makes it a perfect time to stay proactive with adding to the game:
“We’re up about 15%, which is awesome, but this is when we kind of talk internally in MUSL that we can’t allow great sales or a little bit of luck to distract us from the need to aggressively and progressively manage our product portfolio. So, we have to do that especially when things are really great. We have to be thinking about what’s next.”
On top of strong overall sales, both the Power Play and Double Play features are seeing record sales, too.
Power Play sales are at $725 million, up 23% from last year. Double Play generated $185 million, up 31%.
The Double Play sales total $469 million through its first three years of existence. That’s 73% higher than Power Play was through three years ($271 million).
Double Play is offered in 24 of the 45 Powerball states. It allows players to enter their tickets into a secondary drawing for another $1. The secondary drawing has a $10 million top prize.
Photo by John Locher / AP
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