About the Lottery

Since its beginning in 1988, the Wisconsin Lottery has managed the Lottery fund with the following results

(YouTube video)
Where the money goes chart

Player Prizes
($5.3 billion or 56.5% of revenue)

At least 50% of total revenue must be dedicated to prize winnings.

Retailer Commissions
($542.0 million or 5.8% of revenue)
This money goes to Wisconsin businesses.
Operational Expenses
($615.3 million or 6.6% of revenue)

Expenses include staff salaries. The Lottery has operated well below the mandated limit of 10%.

Property Tax Relief
($2.9 billion or 31.1% of revenue)
This money has been returned to eligible Wisconsin taxpayers.

Over the years, the Wisconsin Lottery has generated more than $9.3 billion in total revenue. At least 95% of that revenue has gone back to the people of Wisconsin. That money stays in Wisconsin's economy for the good of everyone.

September 14, 1988	First Wisconsin Lottery games go on sale. Instant Game "Match 3" and Pull-tab "Wisconsin Red" launched.
February 25, 1989	Money Game TV show first broadcast.
August 10, 1989	First lotto game launch, Megabucks Lotto *America, a multi-state game.
February 4, 1991	SuperCash! is introduced.
April 19, 1992	Powerball® is introduced, a new multi-state game. Replaces Megabucks Lotto *America game.
June 18, 1992	Wisconsin's Very Own Megabucks game is launched.
September 21, 1992	The Lottery launches Daily Pick 3.
July 7, 1993	Fond du Lac school teacher Les Robins wins the largest Powerball® jackpot to date: $111 million.
	Robins goes to court to have the prize legally divided with his then-fiancee Colleen DeVries. The win helps cement the reputation of Fond du Lac's "Miracle Mile."
September 18, 1993	Money Game 4 new lotto game launched.
February 14, 1994	The First Wisconsin Lottery game with a price point above $1 is introduced. "Instant Scratch Bingo" sells for $5.
August 3, 1996	Money Game 4 lotto game ended.
September 16, 1996	Introduction of Daily Millions lotto game (no top prize winners).
September 15, 1997	Daily Pick 4 is introduced.
March 29, 1998	Daily Millions lotto game ends.
March 30, 1998	Cash 4 Life game introduced. Win $1,000 a week for life.
May 20, 1998	Wisconsin is thrust into the national and international spotlight for selling the winning ticket in a $195 Million Powerball® drawing. Frank and Shirley Capaci of Streamwood, Illinois purchase the ticket from a small store in Pell Lake. The Capaci's take the cash option of 104.3 million.
May 3, 1999	Crossword, Wisconsin's top selling instant scratch ticket is launched.
September 7, 2000	End of Cash 4 life game. There were a total of four winners during the duration of the game.
September 8, 2000	Money Roll, a new lotto game is launched.
March 1, 2001	"Power Play" multiplier feature is added to Powerball®.

March 25, 2002	End of Money Roll. There were a total of four winners of $500,000 for the duration of the game.
March 26, 2002	New lotto game City Picks is launched.
July 19, 2002	Super Money Game Show is introduced.
October 6, 2002	Powerball® changes white balls to 53 (from 49) and deletes the 1X multiplier. Annuity option changed to 30 payments made over 29 years. A new Powerball® Bonus prize is also added. When the jackpot reaches a "new" record amount, the jackpot will be limited to increase no more than $25 million for each drawing. For example the current record jackpot is $365 million, add only $25 million, so the bonus prize trigger amount is $390 million. The money collected in excess of the estimated jackpot amount will be placed in the bonus prize pool and will accumulate until there is a jackpot winner. It is then divided equally among all Match 5 winning plays, if there are none then the bonus prize pool will roll down to the match 4+1 prize level.
February 15, 2003	End of City Picks game. There were a total of sixteen winners of $500,000 for the duration of the game.
February 17, 2003	Badger 5 new lotto game is launched.
August 30, 2004	The Lottery goes from using balls for the drawings to using a Random Number Generator (RNG).
August 26, 2005	First Wisconsin lottery's scratch-off with a price point of $20 is introduced.
August 28, 2005	The Powerball® matrix is changed from (5/53 + 1/42) to (5/55 + 1/42). The Power Play wheel is changed from 15 to 16 slots with the 2-5 multipliers occupying 4 slots each.
October 4, 2005	The Lottery adds support for Wisconsin Amber Alerts on retailer game terminals.
October 23, 2005	SuperCash! adds a doubler feature to every drawing, top prize is moved from $250,000 to $350,000.
February 5, 2007	Launch of the first combo ticket "Cash Bonus Double Play" a combination of scratch and pull-tab.
March 4, 2007	The new game "Million Dollar Draw" is launched with a draw date of May 1, 2007. The lotto game is run like a raffle with a top prize of $1 million. 345,635 tickets out of 500,000 are sold. More raffles would follow.
2008	Wisconsin Lottery celebrates its 20th Anniversary with lots of special events, big prizes and larger payouts.
January 30, 2010	The Wisconsin Lottery adds Mega Millions.
January 15, 2012	The cost of a Powerball tickets increases to $2. With this change, the jackpots get bigger, the odds get better, and the prizes increase as well. In addition, Power Play changes from a multiplier to a fixed prize.