10 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 Championship Dreams Fueled by Collaboration between NASCAR and Powerball In the middle of the Arizona desert, a championship dream fueled by NASCAR® and Powerball® came to life. In front of a sold-out crowd at Phoenix Raceway, Stephanie Walker of West Point, MS, was declared the $1 million winner and champion of the NASCAR Powerball Playoff™ – the latest national Powerball® promotion borne from its new partnership with NASCAR®. Broadcast live on NBC during the final hour leading up to the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race™ on November 5, the $1 million drawing in Victory Lane served as the grand finale of the national Powerball promotion. The event’s crescendo was Walker’s triumphant exclamation and embrace with her best friend who ran on stage to congratulate her. The winning moment has resonated with audiences universally, all of whom were moved by the Mississippi Lottery player's stroke of good fortune. “Stephanie’s victory evoked emotions in everyone who saw it and humanized the entire promotion and VIP experience for viewers,” said Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director. “It was a genuine expression of pure joy and triumph!” “This is life-changing for me and my family,” said Walker. It’s the compelling content the two entertainment titans envisioned when they first announced their partnership last February. The partnership is Powerball’s first with a major sports league and allows it to engage with players as the Official Lottery Game of NASCAR. The collaboration also signifies a progression in the game’s national marketing approach, which in recent years, has focused on identifying partners who can help amplify the Powerball brand by delivering unique Powerball-based content to national audiences. “For years, with a few exceptions, Powerball’s marketing efforts were driven largely by the advertised jackpot and varied by each lottery jurisdiction,” said Rebecca Paul, MUSL Marketing and Promotions Committee Chair and Tennessee Lottery President and CEO. “By partnering with NASCAR, we can build brand awareness for Powerball on a national level, while providing lotteries with a promotion that leverages the equity in both brands, so they can use it to engage their players on the local level.” Twenty-four lotteries participated in the NASCAR Powerball Playoff™ in its inaugural year, with lottery entry periods spanning from April to the end of July. Entry into the promotion began at the state level with participating lotteries holding second-chance drawings and contests of their choosing to form a national pool of entrants. At the end of the NASCAR regular season in August, MUSL randomly selected 16 semi-finalists from the national pool to advance to the playoff drawings – a series of elimination drawings that mirror the elimination rounds of the NASCAR Playoffs. In the NASCAR Playoffs, the top 16 drivers at the end of the regular season are eligible to compete for the championship title. After each playoff round, the bottom four drivers are eliminated until the field of eligible drivers decreases from 16 to 12 to 8 to 4. The final four drivers, known as the Championship 4, are the elite group competing for the championship title during the final race of the season at Phoenix Raceway. Likewise, the NASCAR Powerball Playoff™ started with 16 national semi-finalists. When NASCAR reduced its playoff field Drew Svitko, Anna Domoto, Stephanie Walker, Barb Niccum, Sue Dooley, Bret Toyne
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