Powerball prizes build quicker, but officials note growing 'jackpot fatigue' among players.

Powerball prizes build quicker, but officials note growing 'jackpot fatigue' among players.

Photo: Eric Gay, AP

A huge $448 million Powerball jackpot -- the third largest ever -- will be split among three winning tickets -- one in Minnesota and two in New Jersey.

Sue Dooley, senior drawing manager production coordinator for the Multi-State Lottery Association, said late Wednesday night that three tickets matched all six jackpot numbers: 05, 25, 30, 58, 59 and Powerball 32.

"We had three grand prize winners," Dooley said. "One was in Minnesota and two were in New Jersey."

After taxes, the three winners will split $258,163,064.

In the Garden State, one of the winning tickets was bought at a Super Stop n Shop store in South Brunswick, N.J., and one at Acme Markets in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., The Star-Ledger reports,quoting state lottery officials.

There were no immediate details on the winning ticket in Minnesota.

While the $448 million jackpot is definitely falls into the "retire-now"category, it is well short of the record $590 million won in Florida in May by an 84-year-old widow. The second largest Powerball jackpot was won in November, with two winners in Missouri and Arizona splitting $587.5 million.

If the huge jackpots -- regularly approaching or exceeding a half-billion dollars -- seem more frequent in recent years, that's because they are.

Powerball, which is played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands, was revamped in January 2012. The price per ticket was doubled from $1 to $2, which means that jackpots build more quickly whenever a drawing fails to pick a winner.

It's a trade-off -- jackpots, and the buying frenzy they stir, grow faster, but the number of players drop off. In the end, the change has been good for business, with overall sales jumping 52%, hitting $5.9 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June.

Powerball officials, however, note the rise of "jackpot fatigue." Powerball players, increasingly unmoved by smaller payouts, often don't get into the game until the jackpot offers big bucks.

"I've been around a long time, and remember when a $10 million jackpot in Illinois brought long lines and people from surrounding states to play that game," he notes.

Tom Romero, CEO of the New Mexico Lottery and chairman of the Powerball Group, agreed.

"Many years ago, $100 million was really exciting and people would immediately buy more, occasional players would start buying," he said. "Then the threshold was $200 million. Now, we see here in New Mexico, we're approaching the $300 million mark."

For those who failed to strike gold Wednesday night, take heart: A new drawing is scheduled for Saturday night for a $40 million jackpot.

Contributing:Associated Press

Source : http://www.usatoday.com/