Powerball Fever Spreads Across Michigan: 4.6 Million Tickets Sold Friday Alone For Historic Jackpot
LANSING (WWJ) - It's official: Michigan residents have come down with a serious case of Powerball fever.
Jeff Holyfield, with the Michigan Lottery, said as of Saturday morning approximately 6.4 million tickets have been sold in Michigan for Saturday's record $900 million Powerball drawing.
Holyfield said more than half of those tickets -- 4.6 million -- were purchased on Friday alone.
By comparison, about 6.3 million tickets were sold for Wednesday night's drawing when the jackpot was $500 million.
Holyfield said lottery officials expect another big day of purchases before tonight's drawing -- so expect that record-breaking jackpot to keep climbing.
The winner would have the option of being paid $900 million through annual payments over 29 years or opting for $558 million in cash.
The drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. Saturday and tickets, which cost $2 each, can be purchased until 9:45 p.m.
The previous record for a U.S. lottery jackpot was $656 million. That Mega Millions jackpot was won in March 2012 and split between three winning tickets (Kansas, Illinois and Maryland). The former record Powerball jackpot was $590.5 million, won in May 2013 by a Florida woman.
The biggest lottery prize in Michigan is a $337 million Powerball jackpot, won by a Lapeer man in August 2012.
Powerball is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.