The Wisconsin Lottery is run by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and was authorized in 1988 by the state legislature. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). Its games consist of Mega Millions, Powerball, Megabucks, Supercash!, Badger 5, Pick 3, Pick 4, All or Nothing, and scratch games. Since its founding, it has generated $4.6 billion for property tax relief for state residents.
The minimum age to buy Wisconsin Lottery tickets is 18.
Televised history
The Money Game
Until 2003, a game show produced by the Wisconsin Lottery and Hearst-Argyle Television, called Wisconsin Lottery Money Game, was aired weekly on the Lottery's network of stations. Contestants won a chance to play the game (and $100) if a scratch ticket contained three "TV" symbols; if not chosen for the main game, would win at least $500 from a pool of money split between them and the other 54 players not chosen. Five contestants would play the game, consisting of four or five rounds where they would choose cash prizes hidden behind the letters Wisconsin Lottery Moneygame, which were set up in the style of the Wheel of Fortune gameboard, but with reversed play. Here, contestants hit a plunger to light up one of the word rows, then picked one letter in that word. The letter was turned over to reveal the prize, which in the last round was a maximum of $7,500; there were no letters with penalties where money was taken away. The winner of the main game went to the bonus round, where they spun a wheel which had alternating values of $25,000 and $50,000. During the show, new instant games were showcased, along with lottery news, and a second-chance drawing of losing mailed-in tickets (instant and online) was conducted.
The program was taped at WISN-TV in Milwaukee. All contestants (each could bring a guest 18 or older) living outside of the Milwaukee area received a two-night stay at the Grand Milwaukee Hotel (later the Four Points Sheraton-Mitchell Field, which closed at the end of 2012.) for their appearance. Hosts were Mark Johnson and Parker Drew; the show's hostesses were Mary Christine and Lori Minetti. The show's format was changed to a new version known as the Super Money Game in mid-2002, involving more contests with a smaller contestant pool, equivalent to a lower-cost version of the Hoosier Lottery's Hoosier Millionaire.
Television network
The Lottery television network consisted of the following stations from 1988 until 2002:;
WISN (12) - Milwaukee
WKOW (27) - Madison
WBAY (2) - Green Bay (converted from CBS to ABC in 1992) WXOW & WQOW (19/18) - La Crosse/Eau Claire WAOW/WYOW (9/34) - Wausau/Eagle River/Rhinelander KBJR (6) - Superior, Wisconsin/Duluth, Minnesota (the only non-ABC station to air the show)
WISN Radio (1130) in Milwaukee aired the drawings on radio until the station's 1997 sale from Hearst to Clear Channel Communications. Several Wisconsin stations picked up the audio portion of the television drawings, though most stations read the winning numbers from Associated Press releases from the Lottery on the mornings after the drawings, which also are published online, in newspapers throughout Wisconsin, USA Today, and the border areas of outlying states. Lottery results are also a common feature of the last segments in the state's late newscasts, and a feature of station news tickers.
Drawings
The Lottery joined the multi-jurisdictional Lotto*America game in 1989. Later, the Lottery began its Wisconsin's Very Own Megabucks jackpot drawings after the launch of Powerball (which replaced L*A) in 1992.