The Future of MUSL: New Games, New Partners, and a Bigger Vision for Powerball®
This article is based on a panel discussion held at PGRI Lottery Expo Nashville on November 5
The Future of MUSL:
New Games, New Partners, and a Bigger Vision for Powerball®
By the time the post-lunch crowd settled back into their seats, Matt Strawn was already framing the moment as something more consequential than an ordinary panel. The Multi-State Lottery Association and the Powerball Group weren’t just managing a successful product; they are stewards of a global property, one of the most recognized lottery brands anywhere in the world.
“We have the opportunity to contemplate some of these initiatives today only because of the work of so many who went before us,” Strawn told the room. “Powerball is the brand that represents global lottery. We are just temporary custodians and trustees of that brand.”
The organizing principle behind the entire discussion: how do you protect what Powerball stands for while pushing it forward with more ambition than in any period in MUSL’s history?
Matt Strawn, President and CEO of the Iowa Lottery
and Chair of the Powerball Group
Panelists:
David Barden, President and CEO, New Mexico Lottery
Mary Harville, President and CEO, Kentucky Lottery
Drew Svitko, Director, Pennsylvania Lottery; President of MUSL
Bret Toyne, Executive Director, MUSL
Adam Prock, Director, Minnesota Lottery
Together, they described a strategic plan built on a blunt premise that has become a mantra inside MUSL meetings: “Legacy brands don’t evolve by doing what’s always worked.”
As Drew Svitko put it, the organization has reached an inflection point, created by Powerball’s scale, the impetus to generate more funds for good causes, and a consumer market that demands more relevance, more engagement, and more disciplined innovation. “It’s going to take aggressive, progressive, active management to fulfil the promise of this humongous gaming brand.”
What follows is a look at the initiatives already in flight; new draw games, new brand partnerships, a national Powerball mobile app, and a more expansive vision of what MUSL can become by 2030.
A Strategic Pivot: From One Big Game to a Portfolio
MUSL’s leaders were candid about a practical reality: Powerball can be the strongest brand in draw games and still experience the familiar peaks and valleys that come with jackpot-driven behavior. The strategic solution is to build a portfolio with new national games that diversify the draw category and deliver steadier performance.
“One of the things the MUSL group is looking at is building a portfolio of games, not just being dependent on one game,” said David Barden. “When we do have those jackpot peaks and valleys, the other games in the portfolio pick up where Powerball and Mega Millions encounter their inevitable valleys.”
That portfolio strategy is already taking shape through a major consolidation and refresh: Millionaire for Life.
Millionaire for Life:
A New National Draw Game at a Higher Price Point
Bret Toyne described Millionaire for Life as the product of a clear opportunity. Two popular “for life” game families, Lucky for Life and Cash for Life, had proven the concept. The next step was to merge and modernize the offering with a bigger top prize and a simpler national proposition. “There was an opportunity to merge those two games into something that may be more attractive to consumers,” Toyne said. “So now we have a game—Millionaire for Life, with a plan to launch February 22, 2026.”
The headline prize is designed to compete on aspiration, not just odds. “Top prize is a million dollars a year for life,” Toyne said. “Second prize is $100,000 a year for life, which is still enough to get your attention.” And the product introduces a $5 price point—an intentional appeal to value perception over price sensitivity. It will be launched in over 30 jurisdictions, reflecting the widespread confidence in success.
For lotteries that already offer “for life” games, Millionaire for Life is positioned as a needed refresh. Mary Harville, who has watched multiple “for life” cycles in Kentucky, emphasized how these products need periodic reinvention to stay compelling. “In my 21 years, we’ve always had a for-life game,” Harville said. “But after a while, it needs a refresh. This will be our fourth for-life game. And what a fantastic refresh, unlike any other really, with the ability to offer this top prize.”
Harville also addressed the psychological question MUSL leaders have been testing: will younger consumers accept a $5 draw ticket? “The value proposition is there” she said. “And the younger players, the folks using GrubHub and Uber Eats and going to Starbucks, they don’t find that $5 price point to be a turnoff.”
Barden framed it through the lens of profit and the durability of returns. “These are the games that bring your highest return, so they should be our strength,” he said. “We all love scratchers, but the net return on scratchers is not what you’re seeing on Powerball and these for-life games.”
If Millionaire for Life is the portfolio strategy’s first big expression, Powerball X’s & O’s is its most ambitious bet on brand partnership and cultural relevance.
Powerball X’s & O’s:
The NFL Partnership and a Different Kind of Draw Experience
Toyne described the progress as substantial and the timeline as aggressive. “Timelines are always challenging with multi-jurisdictional games,” he said, “but the product group has made great strides… Logo approved, rules approved, play slip layout approved; so we’re meeting timelines required to hit that late August, early September launch.”
The game design is intentionally different from anything else in MUSL’s stable. “It’s really eight of 32,” Toyne explained. “You choose eight teams of the 32 NFL teams, so that’s different.” And unlike jackpot-driven behavior, this game is built to run on affinity: fandom, identity, and the pull of the NFL shield. “This won’t be a jackpot-driven game,” Toyne continued. “This will be driven by that affinity with the NFL.”
The prizing strategy is equally deliberate: not merely second chance, but promotional prizing tied to experiences that feel exclusive and culturally meaningful, especially for younger demographics. “It’s not second chance,” Toyne clarified. “It’s promotional prizing. We talked earlier about experiential prizing which reaches some players who might be less interested in traditional formats. Everyone wants cash, but some players are also interested in experiences you can’t buy.”
Adam Prock, who has seen the impact of local NFL partnerships in Minnesota, described the NFL deal as a “next level” moment for Powerball’s brand strategy. “Powerball is a huge global legacy brand,” Prock said. “And if we’re going to be successful, we’ve got to find culturally relevant brands to partner with. I don’t know how you get much bigger than the NFL.”
Prock also framed the partnership as a bridge to “next generation” consumers, an audience the draw category must win if it wants to shape what lottery looks like in 2030. “MUSL has proven with NASCAR and other brand collaborations that we can take experiential prizes and connect with that newer player,” he said. “So we are really excited about it.”
Strawn underscored the scale and the ambition. With states and consumer markets comprising roughly 150 million in population already committed at the time of the panel, he emphasized that the NFL’s own research suggested MUSL could have pushed ticket pricing higher than was ultimately chosen, because the “money can’t buy” element changes the value equation. “We’re not talking just tickets to go see your local team play,” Strawn said. “We’re putting you in a suite at the Super Bowl. We’re putting you at a podium on draft night potentially making a pick for your favorite team.”
Svitko, speaking from the perspective of selling the concept to jurisdictions still on the fence, said “It’s pretty easy to justify on brand power alone,” he said. “Powerball has 85% awareness among adults 35 to 54 and beyond. And the NFL is probably one of the few brands bigger than Powerball.”
But he also emphasized a deeper strategic point: MUSL’s brand research showed players want these partnerships. “Our research highlighted not only the ability for us to reach out to big brands and prove the value of Powerball,” Svitko said, “but also that our players want us to do that.”
That is where Mary Harville became the panel’s most passionate advocate: if you’re a MUSL member, participate. Not because it’s safe, but because success depends on breadth. “Not every lottery is participating,” Harville said. “But you should.” She went on to address the usual objections in a way only a former general counsel could. “I’ve heard, ‘Our state already has a pro team.’ I’ve heard, ‘Our state does not have a pro team.’ I’ve heard, ‘We’ll wait and see how it goes,’” she said. “Folks, this is not multiple choice. The answer is D: none of the above are good reasons not to participate.”
Harville also offered a telling detail about how far MUSL has come in negotiating with world-class brands. The NFL’s initial terms were daunting. “When we started negotiating with the NFL, the fee they were proposing was much higher than the fee we ultimately agreed to,” she said. “In the beginning, they acted like we were privileged that they were even talking to us.”
What changed? New decision-makers on the NFL side and a clearer recognition on the MUSL side of what Powerball represents. “The NFL brought in new staff,” she said, “and I think he heard us. He saw the value of the Powerball brand, and they did the deal with us. I was amazed at the deal that was ultimately negotiated. Win-Win.”
The take-away: if Powerball is going to keep growing, it must meet consumers where they are, behaviorally, digitally, and emotionally. That is exactly why the next initiative became the panel’s pivot point.
The Powerball App:
Protecting the Brand, Creating National Scale
Strawn acknowledged that a national Powerball app had been discussed for years: often budgeted for, often delayed. Now it is imminent, slated to launch in August 2026, alongside the NFL game and its promotional prizing.
“This app has been in the strategic plan every year,” Strawn said. “We’re on the doorstep now to have a Powerball app that not only provides nation-wide access to check Powerball tickets, but enables the functionality for those experiential prizing opportunities in the NFL game.”
The app’s rationale comes down to two ideas: scalability and brand protection. Strawn shared a startling data point: during a major Powerball jackpot run, eight of the top ten downloaded “Powerball apps” were not Powerball apps at all. “They were imposters,” he said.
“I was nervous about a Powerball app at first,” Svitko said. “Being an iLottery state, we have an app, and we want that digital relationship with our players. But we voted to move forward because we know it’s best for the organization as a whole.” Crucially, he emphasized that the app is being designed to integrate and augment rather than compete in-state digital apps and initiatives. “We’re designing it in a way that will interact with the state’s own app,” Svitko said. “The two work well together.”
And the strategic objective is not just ticket checking; it is engagement that drives retail, strengthens the brand’s legitimacy, and prevents others from monetizing Powerball’s name. “There’s a ton of value in meeting players where they are,” Svitko said, “providing them an app, interacting with them, and then using that relationship to drive them into retail and sell more tickets.”
Adam Prock brought it back to the user experience and the reputational risk of letting third parties own the consumer’s first impression. “We’ve got to make real investments in our players’ experience,” Prock said. “If those players are going to one of those imposter websites, they are not likely to have a great experience, and that reflects badly on our brand. We’ve got an opportunity to control and grow our digital footprint, presence, and mind-share, so that’s what we are doing.”
Strawn offered an even larger view of consumer behavior: loyalty isn’t to channel; it’s to experience. “During the jackpot run that concluded with that September 6 drawing, Powerball.com had 442.4 million engagements,” Strawn said. “They weren’t looking for or coming to the Iowa Lottery website, or the Minnesota Lottery website. They were looking for Powerball.”
Toyne described the app’s launch functionality as familiar but necessary, and its next-phase value as foundational for the NFL partnership. “It’s going to have that functionality at launch for players to check their ticket for winning numbers,” Toyne said. “The bigger lift for X’s & O’s will be with promotional prizing: you check your ticket, you get points, you allocate your points in prize buckets, or reallocate if you change your mind.”
He framed the app as a prerequisite for Powerball to act like a true national brand. “My board talks about Powerball being a national brand,” Toyne said. “I don’t think you could find a national brand that doesn’t have its own app.”