Maine debates joining Powerball

AUGUSTA – Maine lawmakers are watching the Powerball mania that is gripping the nation and wondering if the state should try to get in on the action.

Maine’s lottery sales peaked at more than $153 million in 1995, and they have fallen short of $150 million every year since then. That has some asking if Maine should join some mult-state lottery to help pump up lottery sales.

Political leaders disagree on whether Maine should try to join Powerball or another multistate game known as the Big Game, which is played in seven states, including Massachusetts.

Maine belonged to a multi-state game called Lotto America in the early 1990s, but sales were disappointing and the state dropped out.

Some argue that adding a high-stakes game such as Powerball or the Big Game to Maine’s lineup would boost Maine’s anemic lottery sales.

“I think we would make more money if we joined Powerball because Megabucks can’t even come close” to the Powerball jackpots, said Sen. Beverly Daggett, D-Augusta.

The biggest Megabucks jackpot was $16 million about a decade ago, but it more often was well below $5 million. Powerball’s jackpot three years ago grew to $295 million that was split among 13 winners. The Big Game topped that with a $363 million jackpot last year that two people won.

Skeptics counter that there are only so many people willing to play the lottery in a small, poor state like Maine. Add Powerball or the Big Game to the mix, they say, and sales of those tickets might do well, but at the expense of existing games. The end result: no net increase in overall revenues.

“The issue for me would be whether it would help Maine to sell its lottery tickets,” and the answer is no, said Sen. Neria Douglass, D-Auburn. Adding Powerball to the lineup might excite players, Douglass said, but it would not be a good idea “if you’re looking at it from the point of view of what’s good for Maine and Maine’s economy.”

That debate may be moot because New Hampshire and Vermont could veto Maine joining any other multistate game, under terms of the compact governing the Megabucks game.

New Hampshire probably would not want to see Maine get into Powerball because it would eat away at New Hampshire’s sales. Marsh told lawmakers last March that Massachusetts would oppose Maine joining the Big Game for the same reason.