The two-month Powerball run that ended with a $1.6 billion jackpot went "beyond our wildest expectations" and raised roughly $12 million for college scholarships, Arkansas Scholarship Lottery Director Bishop Woosley told lawmakers Thursday.
The three lucky winners of the record-high Powerball jackpot did not immediately identify themselves, but they bought their tickets in Munford, a town of about 6,000 people in Tennessee; in the Los Angeles suburb of Chino Hills; and in affluent Melbourne Beach, in Florida's Space Coast region, according to lottery officials in those states.
Woosley noted that Wednesday's world-record jackpot exceeded the previous record of $590 million reached in 2013.
"So for this to happen again, it may not happen for us while we are around. It may happen two or three years from now. I don't know," Woosley told the Legislative Council's Lottery Oversight Subcommittee.
"You are going to have some hangover, and you have a problem where some people say, 'Well, I am not even getting off the couch until [the jackpot hits] $480 million,'" he said.
Woosley said he hopes the lottery's consultant, Camelot Global Services, can help figure out how to best market the lottery and encourage more people to regularly buy tickets in Arkansas. Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Arkansas lottery sold $25.3 million in Powerball tickets between Nov. 5 and Wednesday, Woosley said. Lottery money is used to provide college scholarships, the amounts of which are set by the Legislature, so no immediate change is in store for the scholarships.
The Powerball prizes won in Arkansas during this period included a $150,000 prize, six $100,000 prizes and five $50,000 prizes, he said.
So far in fiscal 2016, which started July 1, the lottery has sold $33.6 million in Powerball tickets, including $21.1 million this month, he said. In contrast, the lottery sold $27 million in Powerball tickets in all of fiscal 2015.
The last time someone won the Powerball was Nov. 4 in Tennessee, when the jackpot hit $148 million. Woosley noted that it took 20 twice-a-week drawings to get to Wednesday's $1.6 billion jackpot.
The state lottery sold a total of $7.2 million in lottery tickets Wednesday, including $5.8 million in Powerball ticket, to set daily records for the lottery, he said.
State Rep. Andy Davis, R-Little Rock, asked Woosley whether the spike in Powerball ticket sales was because of first-time players like him or because of regular lottery players buying more tickets.
"Our normal [scratch-off ticket] game sales don't appear to have been affected from this jackpot run," Woosley said. "We probably have some people that typically buy on a regular basis spending more, but this is a lot of new players or it's a lot of players who have lapsed and may have played two or three years ago and said, 'I don't ever win anything.'
"I am sure there are people that probably spent more than they should have, [but] we try to do everything we can to try to dissuade them from doing that."
David Colbert of Little Rock -- who advocates for gambling prevention and education programs -- told lawmakers that it's irresponsible and "beyond wrong" that the state no longer spends money to educate the public about gambling addiction. Last year's Legislature enacted a law to eliminate the lottery's $200,000-a-year contribution to compulsive-gambling treatment and education programs. The money saved went toward scholarships.
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said the lottery "comes with a public health cost, and [Colbert] is absolutely right that this is a cost that we have ignored. This is one of the things where we need to deal with something we created."
The lottery has helped finance more than 30,000 Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarships during each of the past six fiscal years.
The Legislature has cut the size of the scholarships for future recipients three times in recent years. The lottery's revenue and net proceeds for scholarships have dipped each of the past three fiscal years after peaking in fiscal 2012.
During the first six months of fiscal 2016, the lottery's revenue and net proceeds have increased over the figures from the first six months of fiscal 2015.
Woosley, who has been the lottery's director since February 2012, has projected that lottery revenue will be $411 million and net proceeds for scholarships will be $79.5 million in fiscal 2016 -- up from $409.2 million and net proceeds of $72.4 million in fiscal 2015. He said he doesn't plan to change his projection in light of the recent uptick in Powerball ticket sales.
The state signed a contract on Dec. 1 with Camelot Global Services to produce a proposed business plan by March 8. The firm has offices in London and Philadelphia.
Under the contract, the consulting firm will receive base compensation and expense reimbursements up to $750,000 a year, but it also will be eligible for incentive compensation of at least 12.5 percent of the lottery's adjusted operating income above $72.28 million in a fiscal year.
The contract also calls for Camelot to help the lottery implement the business plan and renegotiate contracts with vendors. The savings would be used to help pay for Camelot's services. The contract runs through June 30, 2020, with options for two one-year extensions.
Sen. Bruce Maloch, D-Magnolia, said Camelot Global Services is in line to get "a really good windfall [from Powerball ticket sales] really with nothing to do with their work."
Woosley said it was anticipated that may happen, but he hopes Camelot Global Services helps the lottery grow during its five-year contract.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.
Metro on 01/15/2016