Powerball comes to the UK with a £300 million first draw, 23 July 2026

On 14 April 2026 Allwyn, which runs The National Lottery, said a UK version of Powerball would arrive that summer under a deal with the Multi-State Lottery Association. The UK became the first market outside the US to offer the game.

Tickets went on sale on Tuesday 21 July 2026, priced at £4 a line. The opening UK draw, held at about 4am on Thursday 23 July, had an estimated jackpot of £300 million. At the time it was the biggest jackpot ever offered to UK players.

Players choose five numbers from 1 to 69 and one Powerball from 1 to 26. Draws are held in Florida at around 4am UK time on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, with sales closing at 11.55pm the night before. Five main numbers without the Powerball pays a fixed £1 million, and a tier open only to UK players pays £8 for two main numbers.

A UK jackpot is advertised as an after-tax figure and paid as an annuity over 30 years rather than as one sum. Allwyn expects the game to add around £1 billion for good causes over its first five years.

Sources

• Allwyn: Powerball lands in the UK with a record £300 million jackpot (allwyn.co.uk)
• Intergame: Powerball comes to the UK (14 April 2026) (intergameonline.com)
• Lottery USA: Powerball goes global as UK players join (lotteryusa.com)
• Lottery.co.uk: Powerball arrives with £300 million jackpot for debut UK draw (lottery.co.uk)
• Better Retailing: Retailers begin selling Powerball tickets ahead of first £300m draw (betterretailing.com)