CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) - Powerball fever is taking over the country and our region.
"I'm very excited," said Kiaira Harris from Charlotte. "I got the winning ticket, so I'm going to tell you all about it when I claim my prize."
Plenty of people are hoping to win the $1.9 billion jackpot.
One big winner is already the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission.
"When we look at sales for the first drawing for this run in the beginning of Aug., we did just a little under a million dollars for sales for that one," said Jonathan LaRowe, spokesperson for N.C. Educational Lottery. "For the most recent drawing that we had on Saturday night, we did 18.8 million dollars in sales."
That's a lot of people playing, many for the first time, like Harris.
"I played last week, and then I played this week," she added.
Others for a long time, like Steve Mauney, after he got his tickets.
"I play it haphazardly," added Mauney. "But as it gets higher, I'm a little more dedicated."
The influx of players doesn't mean people will keep playing scratch-off tickets or other state-specific games; it only means more money to build schools, give out scholarships, and different educational needs as the Powerball jackpot grows.
"On this Powerball run alone, starting on Aug. 6 through the drawing on Saturday night, we have raised over $33 million for education in N.C just based off this Powerball run," said LaRowe.
So, there's already one winner, and those playing say they want to see more for the students if they don't win.
"It should be doing more than what it is doing, and people are not utilizing it the way they should, in my opinion," added Mauney. "At least they don't make it public enough."
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