Illinois State Lottery

Illinois Lottery

Current logo of the Illinois Lottery
Formation	July 1, 1974
Type	Lottery System
Website	illinoislottery.com

The Illinois State Lottery (known simply as the Illinois Lottery) is an American lottery for the U.S. state of Illinois that is operated by the Northstar Lottery Group.

The Illinois Lottery began operations on July 1, 1974, when lotteries in the United States were confined to areas of the Northeast and Midwest.

The drawings are supervised by the accounting firm of E.C. Ortiz & Co., LLP and verified by the auditing firm of Mayer Hoffman McCann, P.C. Illinois is the only state lottery to have their non multi-jurisdictional drawings televised nationwide (which are broadcast throughout the United States and much of Canada via WGN-TV's national superstation feed WGN America), though the 9 p.m. newscast was removed from WGN America in February 2014 as they begin their transition to a general cable network.

The Illinois Lottery is one of 44 lottery jurisdictions that participate in Mega Millions and Powerball (whose drawings are also broadcast by WGN-TV in the Chicago area and nationally on WGN America) – of these jurisdictions, 43 of the 44 lotteries offer both games. The Lottery also offers Lotto (in which players pick 6 of 52 numbers) with a smaller jackpot, which is played on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday nights. Pick 3 and Pick 4 numbers are drawn twice daily; until April 16, 2014, with the discontinuation two months before of WGN-TV's 9 p.m. newscast from WGN America, the same numbers applied to those playing the same games in neighboring Iowa; that state now draws their own numbers. Lucky Day Lotto (5/39), with a minimum jackpot of $100,000, is drawn nightly.

In 2009, the Illinois legislature passed amendments to the Lottery Law that approved the Internet Pilot Program to launch the sale of the Mega Millions and Lotto games on the Internet. On December 23, 2011, a U.S. Justice Department decision provided much anticipated clarity to Illinois' and other U.S. lotteries by confirming that the sale of lottery products over the internet by lotteries in United States jurisdictions was legal. On March 25, 2012, Illinois became the first jurisdiction to allow internet lottery sales. Adults with an IP address within the state of Illinois can play the Lottery in this manner. The program will run for 36 to 48 months on a trial basis.