Insight
Powerball and Double Play An Early Success
Both currently hot topics in the industry, the Powerball® third draw and Double Play® add-on have been on fire since launching in August – driving player enthusiasm and fueling lottery sales growth.
Feb 18, 2022
Consumer Trends
Both currently hot topics in the industry, the Powerball® third draw and Double Play® add-on have been on fire since launching in August – driving player enthusiasm and fueling lottery sales growth.
Trending: Refreshing Current Games
The August 2021 Powerball changes are part of MUSL’s ongoing effort to sustain player interest over time. We estimate that the addition of the third draw and the launch of Double Play, generated a 32% increase in Powerball sales, from a combination of +20% sales at jackpot parity, +4% from the 13 jurisdictions running Double Play, and the rest attributable to the acceleration of the jackpot growth.
Contributing to the success was a high jackpot roll-up of over $650 million six weeks after the launch. Sales were up over 260% when compared to the week before the third draw was added. The jackpot hit in October 2021 and a new series began.
Since the addition of the third draw, total overall Powerball sales have increased within the first few weeks of each series. In addition, out of 10 states who saw the highest sales percentage increase, 9 of them launched Double Play.
“From experience on other International and U.S. games, we believe Double Play will continue to gain playership in the jurisdictions where it has launched, encouraging more lotteries to consider it,” said Stefano Monterosso, Senior Vice President Global Lottery Product and Same Store Sales.
Data also shows higher weekly sales though the first eight weeks when compared to the same period over the last two years, with over $880 million in cumulative sales and a faster growing jackpot. It was since 2018 that Powerball sales weren’t that strong.
What about Double Play?
Powerball not only added an additional draw but highlighted the appeal of the $1 add-on, Double Play.
Double Play enters player’s already selected Powerball numbers into a second drawing for a chance to win additional prizes of up to $10 million cash. The play mechanics and winning categories are the same for Double Play and the base Powerball game, making it easy for players to understand.
Double Play is not diminishing sales of the previous add-on, Power Play. As shown in the graph to the right, while there is a high percentage of players choosing the Double Play add-on, Power Play play-thru rates remain high.
Players must first win a prize in the Powerball game to take advantage of Power Play while Double Play gives players two chances to win. Based on the game rules in each individual lottery jurisdiction, players can select one or more of these add-ons.
Double Play is currently offered in 13 lottery jurisdictions, including the two lotteries that IGT directly operates, Indiana and New Jersey. To learn more about Double Play, contact your IGT account manager.