Powerball Comes to California
Less than 24 hours after the winning Powerball lottery numbers were announced, California's five-member lottery commission voted unanimously on Thursday to bring the Powerball jackpot to the state.
"We have to continually offer our loyal players a variety of entertaining lottery games, and we firmly believe that Powerball is a right fit for the California Lottery," state lottery director Robert T. O'Neill said in a prepared statement. "I expect Powerball to add anywhere between 50 to 100 million additional dollars to supplement public education funding, which is our one and only mission. Plus, our customers were pretty clear that they wanted us to bring Powerball to California."
Lottery spokesman Elias Dominguez told ABCNews.com that the California Lottery Commission had been considering the move long before this month's record $587 million jackpot.
"We've been discussing joining Powerball for over a year now," said Dominguez. "But when Powerball went from $1 to $2, it put plans to join on hold."
"We had to step back and see how it would affect sales for Powerball for other states," he said.
Dominguez said the commission also had to consider how it would affect the state's Mega Millions and Super Lotto Plus games.
California's first Powerball sales will begin on April 8, 2013, with the first draw scheduled for April 10, 2013.
California will be the 43rd state to adopt Powerball.
