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CNN Live Saturday

Lotto Fever Heats Up in Florida

Aired December 14, 2002 - 17:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Winter may be in the air where you are, but Lotto fever is heating up Florida. Tonight, someone could win the largest Lotto jackpot in the history of the Sunshine State and CNN's Mark Potter is watching the get-rich-quick mania in Miami.
Mark, I hope you're buying me a ticket, too.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

I can tell that you millions of Floridians are buying tickets and they will be watching the lottery tonight, the drawing at 11 p.m., to see if they are the big winner. And, indeed, big winners they could be.

The estimated jackpot is $100 million but we're hearing it could be more than that, $100 is the second largest. It may even be the largest. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

We're at a place in Tamarack, Florida, northwest of Fort Lauderdale, this is called News Plus. They do a booming business here normally, 15,000 tickets a week. This week, they are doing a $30,000 business, because everyone is so interested in the big payout. Let me ask this gentleman.

Thinking positively, when you win, what are you going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to retire. I own a travel agency in this shopping center, I'm going to close up and sail around the world for a couple of years.

POTTER: That sounds like a really good plan. Congratulations to you -- in advance.

Tom Dolan is here with us from the Florida Lottery. I want to ask you, this is advertised as the second largest, but might beat the one in 1990, right? What are you hearing?

TOM DOLAN, FLORIDA LOTTERY OFFICIAL: September of '90. If we maintain our current sales rate, it appears we may beat that record.

POTTER: And what was that number?

DOLAN: That was $106.5.

POTTER: How many tickets are you selling? It is an astounding number, I think.

DOLAN: We're currently pacing out at 40,000 tickets per minute.

POTTER: Per minute?

DOLAN: Per minute, and that we're looking to reach probably 60,000 tickets per minute by the end of the evening.

POTTER: Now, these are not just Floridians who are buying tickets. I understand up on the border area, there's a lot of business going on up there, too, from people from other states. Is that right? And at airports, as well?

DOLAN: Correct. We're certainly welcoming our Georgia and Alabama neighbors to purchase our tickets.

POTTER: To pour more money into Florida, is that right?

DOLAN: We welcome their dollars.

POTTER: Thank you very much. Thank you.

Now, I want to tell you there's another lottery out there, Fredricka, it is called Power Ball. It is in 23 states, not including Florida, also the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That payout is $125 million, even bigger than the Florida payout. And so there are a lot of people around the country tonight expecting a very big holiday gift.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow, at least hoping for it. I'll say, this one more time. Mark, buy me a ticket. Thank you very much. I owe you a dollar or two.

POTTER: For a minor fee, I'll get you a really good ticket.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Mark.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 14, 2002 - 17:57   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Winter may be in the air where you are, but Lotto fever is heating up Florida. Tonight, someone could win the largest Lotto jackpot in the history of the Sunshine State and CNN's Mark Potter is watching the get-rich-quick mania in Miami.
Mark, I hope you're buying me a ticket, too.

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

I can tell that you millions of Floridians are buying tickets and they will be watching the lottery tonight, the drawing at 11 p.m., to see if they are the big winner. And, indeed, big winners they could be.

The estimated jackpot is $100 million but we're hearing it could be more than that, $100 is the second largest. It may even be the largest. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

We're at a place in Tamarack, Florida, northwest of Fort Lauderdale, this is called News Plus. They do a booming business here normally, 15,000 tickets a week. This week, they are doing a $30,000 business, because everyone is so interested in the big payout. Let me ask this gentleman.

Thinking positively, when you win, what are you going to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to retire. I own a travel agency in this shopping center, I'm going to close up and sail around the world for a couple of years.

POTTER: That sounds like a really good plan. Congratulations to you -- in advance.

Tom Dolan is here with us from the Florida Lottery. I want to ask you, this is advertised as the second largest, but might beat the one in 1990, right? What are you hearing?

TOM DOLAN, FLORIDA LOTTERY OFFICIAL: September of '90. If we maintain our current sales rate, it appears we may beat that record.

POTTER: And what was that number?

DOLAN: That was $106.5.

POTTER: How many tickets are you selling? It is an astounding number, I think.

DOLAN: We're currently pacing out at 40,000 tickets per minute.

POTTER: Per minute?

DOLAN: Per minute, and that we're looking to reach probably 60,000 tickets per minute by the end of the evening.

POTTER: Now, these are not just Floridians who are buying tickets. I understand up on the border area, there's a lot of business going on up there, too, from people from other states. Is that right? And at airports, as well?

DOLAN: Correct. We're certainly welcoming our Georgia and Alabama neighbors to purchase our tickets.

POTTER: To pour more money into Florida, is that right?

DOLAN: We welcome their dollars.

POTTER: Thank you very much. Thank you.

Now, I want to tell you there's another lottery out there, Fredricka, it is called Power Ball. It is in 23 states, not including Florida, also the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. That payout is $125 million, even bigger than the Florida payout. And so there are a lot of people around the country tonight expecting a very big holiday gift.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: Wow, at least hoping for it. I'll say, this one more time. Mark, buy me a ticket. Thank you very much. I owe you a dollar or two.

POTTER: For a minor fee, I'll get you a really good ticket.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Mark.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com