Camelot chief executive Dianne Thompson said their game would have a monthly draw creating ‘a shower of millionaires’ with as many as 60 winners around the world. But once a year there would be a bigger-draw with a single top prize of potentially more than £200m.
Ms Thompson said the prize would be ‘bigger than anything seen in Europe at the moment’ and would rival the biggest jackpots won in American state draws – although these are usually paid out as annuities over a lifetime rather than a single ‘take home’ windfall.
The world record for a win is held by builder Andrew Whittaker, who had the ticket for a prize worth $314.9m (£160.7m) in the West Virginia draw in 2002. However, he opted to take it in a £100m lump sum rather than the full amount over 30 years.
The current record jackpot in Europe is the £125m won in Camelot’s EuroMillions game in February last year. Came lot hope that t he unprecedented geographical scale of their new draw and the top prize will generate massive ticket sales.
Ms Thompson said the game was inspired by the success of EuroMillions which now has nine participating countries. She added: ‘If we win the bid, we’re looking forward to working in close partnership with other world-class lottery operators from around the globe to develop what we believe will be the first world lottery draw.’
Other innovations being revealed today include a tie-in with Ticketmaster to allow players to win non-cash prizes such as tickets to pop concerts and sporting events.
