Reality sets in after Mega dreams
Disappointment is widespread as millions more play, don’t win
Well, that was a nice dream. Now back to work. Friday’s record-breaking $656 million Mega Millions lottery prize goes to three lucky winners in three states, and just about everyone else retains worthless slips of bar-coded paper.
The odds of winning were no less astronomical than with most lotteries, but the ripples of disappointment reach farther after millions of nonhabitual players unsuccessfully tried their luck.
The odds were steep — about 1 in 176 million — but the jackpot spoke for itself: By Friday night, after it had grown for more than nine weeks, Americans had spent nearly $1.5 billion on tickets — the equivalent of nearly $5 for every man, woman and child in the USA.
Three players — so far unnamed — matched all six numbers, entitling them to a third of the $656 million prize.
There were some big consolation prizes: Lottery officials said three ticket holders won $1 million each, 158 ticket holders won $250,000 apiece by matching the first five numbers, and 897 won $10,000 apiece by matching four numbers plus the Mega Ball.
Even so, that leaves a lot of people disappointed. Could this morning’s Mega Letdown have an effect on lottery sales and the programs they fund? Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing stands at $12 million — after last weekend, a lot of Americans may say “a mere $12 million.” Has the huge jackpot recalibrated our expectations?
That question is on the mind of Michael Jones, superintendent of the Illinois Lottery. One of the three winning tickets came from a convenience store in Red Bud, Ill., south of Springfield. He says the lottery was “invisible” to many until last week. “We were irrelevant to them until the size of the prize made us relevant.”
Jones wonders whether lotteries might need a $100 million “trigger” to maintain sales. About 80% of Illinoisans approve of the lottery, he says, but only 9% to 12% regularly buy tickets. He says he’s banking on keeping people’s interest by reminding them where special state lottery proceeds go: to fund veterans’ care, multiple sclerosis and breast cancer research, and AIDS awareness.
John Mikesell, a University of Indiana economist, doubts there will be a “negative hangover effect” on lottery sales. “Regular players . . . were playing back before the big jackpot, after all, so why would they change?”