BRAINTREE, Nov. 18, 2009 - Who will be the biggest winner at Sunday's game at Gillette Stadium? It might be June Chapman. The Easton grandmother has the chance to win $1 million in the Million Dollar Drive, a second-chance drawing in the New England Patriots instant ticket from the Massachusetts State Lottery.
The New England Patriots instant ticket, the first NFL-licensed product to be developed with a state Lottery, was unveiled by state Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill and Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group, at the start of the 2009 season. The $5 instant ticket has quickly become one of the best-selling Lottery products of all time with current sales approaching $50 million in just three months.
"Our partnership with the New England Patriots is enabling us to raise millions of dollars for cities and towns while holding exciting events like the Million Dollar Drive," Treasurer Cahill said. "I'm looking forward to watching June win a huge grand prize during halftime."
"We are proud to have teamed up with the Lottery to create one of the most popular scratch tickets they have ever had," said Patriots President Jonathan Kraft. "This type of second-chance opportunity to win between $100,000 and $1 million is what makes this scratch ticket game so unique. I am sure that June Chapman is getting a lot of advice from family and friends. I know that she will have a lot of Patriots fans cheering for her on Sunday. It will certainly be an experience that she will never forget."
Chapman, a lifelong Patriots fan was selected from more than 330,000 internet entries in a Nov. 3 drawing. Chapman, pictured here with her husband Russell, said her anticipation and excitement builds with each passing day as the contest nears.
"I was shocked when we were first notified that I had won the drawing and I am still stunned today," Chapman said. "We're anxiously waiting for the 22nd to come. It's been tough getting a full night's sleep thinking about what's about to happen."
During halftime of the Patriots game against the New York Jets, Chapman will head onto the field to pick from 24 hidden prizes on six-foot by nine-foot instant tickets. Eight tickets will be worth $100,000; six tickets will be worth $200,000; four tickets will be worth $300,000; two tickets will be worth $400,000; two tickets will be worth $500,000 and two tickets will be worth $1 million, guaranteeing her of winning at least $100,000 and a one-in-12-chance of winning $1 million.
Chapman almost missed her chance at the mammoth prize. Her granddaughter Jessica gave two Patriots instant tickets to Russell for his birthday in August. But when they didn't initially win on the tickets, Chapman went to throw them away.
Luckily, Jessica told her grandparents about the second-chance opportunities for Lottery players with two non-winning Patriots tickets. The Lottery will hold a drawing for a second Million Dollar Drive later in the run of the hugely popular instant game.
The instant game, which boasts 10 instant prizes of $1 million, features more than 6.7 million winning tickets. Lottery players will also win 4,250 VIP game ticket packages and unique Patriots merchandise. The marquee prizes in the game are second chance drawings for five pairs of New England Patriots Season Tickets for Life.
About the Massachusetts State LotteryThe Massachusetts State Lottery is dedicated to providing revenue for the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns. Since 2003, the Lottery has returned more than $6.3 billion to taxpayers. The Lottery, through our 7,500 agents, offers players exciting and entertaining games, a formula that has made us among the most successful lotteries in the nation. For more information, please visit www.masslottery.com.
About the New England Patriots
The Patriots were named the eighth and final charter franchise of the American Football League (AFL) on Nov. 16, 1959 and are celebrating their 50th anniversary season this year. In 1994, Robert Kraft purchased the franchise and vowed to bring New England its first league championship. The Patriots delivered on that promise at the end of the 2001 season and became just the second team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a four-year span after winning back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004. Since 1994, the Patriots have won more games (179) and more often (.656 winning percentage) than any other NFL team. For more information, please visit www.patriots.com.
