Not long after, each of the 13 original colonies established a lottery system to raise revenue. These lotteries were quite sophisticated for the time period and even included instant winners. The financiers of Jamestown, Virginia, for instance, funded lotteries to raise money to support their colony. Lotteries were used not only as a form of entertainment but as a source of revenue to help fund the colonies. Historian Neal Millikan using newspaper advertisements in the colonial era found at least 392 lotteries were held in the 13 colonies. In fiscal 2018, Americans spent $77.7 billion on various lotteries, up by about $5 billion from 2017. Two major lottery games, Mega Millions and Powerball, are both offered in nearly all jurisdictions that operate lotteries, and serve as de facto national lotteries.
However, consortiums of state lotteries jointly organize games spanning larger geographical footprints, which in turn, carry larger jackpots. Lotteries are subject to the laws of and operated independently by each jurisdiction, and there is no national lottery organization. In the United States, lotteries are run by 48 jurisdictions: 45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
