Iowa Lottery drawings going online

The Iowa Lottery is getting computer friendlier.

Terry Rich, the lottery's chief executive officer, announced Thursday that beginning this month, the Powerball drawings held at 9:59 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays will be streamed live at the www.powerball.com Web site.

The live streaming is being conducted through an agreement between the Urbandale-based Multi-State Lottery Association, which administers the Powerball game on behalf of participating lotteries, and a Pensacola, Fla.,-based firm that developed technology to provide interactive data products to leading online and wireless companies worldwide.

“Adding live drawings on the Internet will allow millions of additional players to watch the drawings while they're happening and find out whether they've won a prize,” Rich said. “We're always looking for new, effective ways to communicate with the public and this is a great new way to provide information as it happens.”

Along with live streaming Powerball drawings online, Rich said previous drawings also will be archived for online viewing. The Iowa Lottery's Web site (www.ialottery.com) also will link to the drawings results.

Powerball is played in Iowa, 30 other states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.