Powerball sales open in the UK for the first time
UK players can buy into the US Powerball jackpot under a new agreement, with the first eligible drawing set for Wednesday night.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Powerball ticket sales are beginning in the United Kingdom, opening the U.S. lottery game’s jackpot to players outside the United States for the first time. The move matters because a larger player pool could make jackpots rise faster, according to U.S. lottery officials cited by The Associated Press.
The Associated Press reported that sales in the U.K. start Tuesday under an agreement announced in April between the U.S.-based Multi-State Lottery Association and Allwyn UK. Wednesday night’s drawing will be the first Powerball drawing available to U.K. players, according to the AP.
The arrangement makes the U.K. the first lottery market outside the United States to feed into the Powerball jackpot, the AP reported. It also gives players in Britain access to prizes far larger than those typically offered by lotteries in the U.K. and Europe.
How the UK version will work
Powerball tickets cost $2, according to the AP. The game asks players to choose five white-ball numbers from 1 to 69 and one red Powerball number from 1 to 26.
Drawings will continue on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, the AP reported. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, and lottery officials said those odds will be the same for U.S. and U.K. players.
U.K. tickets will contribute only to the Powerball jackpot, not to the lower-tier prizes paid in the United States, according to the AP. Players in the U.K. will have their own lower-tier prize structure.
Advertised jackpot amounts also will not match exactly across the Atlantic. The AP reported that totals will differ because of currency conversion and because the U.S. advertises prize amounts before taxes, unlike the U.K.
Payment rules will also vary by country. U.K. Powerball jackpots will be paid over 30 years, while U.S. winners may choose between an annuity paid over time or a cash option, according to the AP. Nearly all U.S. jackpot winners choose the cash option, the AP reported.
Jackpot comparisons
The largest Powerball prize was just over $2 billion, or about 1.5 billion pounds, from a ticket bought in California in 2022, according to the AP. By comparison, EuroMillions awarded its maximum prize of 250 million euros, about $285 million, to players from France, Ireland and Austria during 2025.
EuroMillions operates across nine European countries and is run in the U.K. by Allwyn, the AP reported. The Powerball expansion gives Allwyn UK a role in linking British players to the U.S. jackpot system.
U.S. lottery officials told the AP that adding U.K. players should help Powerball jackpots grow more quickly. Larger grand prizes tend to draw more ticket buyers, they said.
Powerball is currently played in 45 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the AP.
This story draws on original reporting from NPR.