State lottery board approves Calif. joining Mega Millions game
By The Associated Press
Posted 8:35AM on Wednesday, February 9, 2005
<p>Hoping to pump up sales, California's lottery board voted Tuesday to join the multistate Mega Millions game, giving players a shot at long-odds jackpots in the $200 million to $300 million range.</p><p>The board voted 3-0 to pick Atlanta-based Mega Millions, which is played in 11 other states, over the more popular Powerball, which is available in 27 states.</p><p>"We are excited to enter into this partnership and look forward to providing our players with what they have asked for _ jackpots in the $200 million to $300 million range," said Chon Gutierrez, the lottery's interim director.</p><p>Cathy Johnston, a lottery spokeswoman, said the board felt Mega Millions would be a better fit for California, in part because its drawings are held on Tuesday and Friday nights and wouldn't conflict with the state's Lotto drawings on Wednesday and Saturday.</p><p>Both the multistate games are similar to Lotto, in which a player tries to match six winning numbers.</p><p>But the multistate games can provide much bigger jackpots. So far the biggest prize awarded by the California Lottery was $193 million in February 2002. Mega Millions awarded a $363 million jackpot in May 2002.</p><p>The odds of winning one of those Mega Millions jackpots are slim _ one in 135 million _ but lottery officials are betting the larger jackpots will attract more players and boost revenue by $500 million a year.</p><p>Mega Millions tickets will be sold at the same retail outlets as Lotto and will cost $1.</p><p>Most of that money will stay in California and will be available for prizes, lottery administration and schools, Johnston said.</p><p>She said it was uncertain when the Mega Millions game would be available to California players, saying lottery officials and Mega Millions operators needed to work out a "plan and timetable."</p><p>"There are several things that need to be ironed out," including payout schedules, Johnston said. "Several states have different rules (than California). We have to figure out which way we're going to go" and whether the state will keep its rules for everything or just some of them.</p><p>She said Gutierrez was confident the game would be in place by the end of the year. "That's probably a worst-case scenario."</p><p>But Fred Jones, an attorney and a lobbyist for a group called the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, questioned whether the board could approve the Mega Millions game without authorization from the Legislature.</p><p>"I can't find anything explicit (in the law) that gives them authority to do this," he said, calling the commission's action "a radical expansion of the California Lottery."</p><p>Jones said he'd asked for an opinion from the Legislature's attorney on whether the board could approve the multistate game on its own.</p><p>A lawsuit challenging the decision is a last resort, he added.</p><p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's government reorganization team, the California Performance Review, recommended joining a multistate lottery, saying it would boost sales up to 78 percent, based on experiences in other states. Gutierrez helped draft that report.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net: www.calottery.com</p>