The Tennessee Lottery is run by the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation (TELC), which was created on June 11, 2003 by the Tennessee General Assembly. TELC derives its legal authority from the Tennessee Education Lottery Implementation Law, which the General Assembly passed in accordance with a November 2002 amendment to the state constitution establishing the lottery and approved by 58 percent of the voters.
The TELC is responsible for the operation of a lottery, and is deemed to be acting in all respects for the benefit of the people of Tennessee. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL); it participates in the Mega Millions and Powerball games.
The TELC sold its first ticket on January 20, 2004. On July 28, 2007, Tennessee switched from ball drawings to those using a random number generator (RNG). However, Powerball (which moved its drawings from MUSL's Iowa headquarters to Florida in 2009) continues to be ball-drawn; likewise, Mega Millions is ball-drawn in Atlanta, with the Megaplier RNG selection conducted in Texas, as California does not have the Megaplier option.
Tennessee will offer its third multi-jurisdictional jackpot game, Hot Lotto, beginning on May 12, 2013; it will be the game's 16th member. On that date, Hot Lotto will change its double matrix and how the jackpot is to be advertised.
Tennessee also has an in-state jackpot game, Tennessee Cash, which replaced Pick 5 in October 2010.
People must be at least 18 years of age to purchase or redeem TELC tickets; only cash can be used to purchase lottery tickets.
Read more about Tennessee Lottery: Player and Beneficiary Statistics
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