BRAINTREE, MA - Oct. 30, 2009 - A Malden school teacher and lifelong New England Patriots fan became the first Massachusetts Lottery player to win Season Tickets for Life after her name was selected from nearly 300,000 second chance drawing entries.
Robin Colarusso of Everett won the fabulous prize in the New England Patriots instant game, the first NFL licensed Lottery game. The $5 instant game - which was introduced by Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill and Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group just two months ago - has already sold more than $40.8 million in tickets.
"This is a dream come true for me," Colarusso said at Lottery headquarters. "I've never been to a game before and now I can go to every single one. This is fantastic."
The New England Patriots instant game features 10 instant prizes of $1 million, 4,250 VIP ticket packages, and unique Patriots merchandise. As the game reaches five sales milestones, Season Tickets for Life will be awarded in separate second-chance drawings. (Visit www.masslottery.com for more details.)
"Patriots fans and Lottery players have made this game one of the top-selling tickets of all time," said Treasurer Cahill, chairman of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. "Best of all, we have already raised millions of dollars for local aid for our 351 cities and towns."
The New England Patriots ticket follows in the tradition of the Lottery's successful line of sports-themed tickets. Since 2006, the Massachusetts Lottery has sold more than $840 million in sports-themed tickets and raised more than $116 million for police officers, fire fighters, teachers and other essential municipal services.
"We would like to congratulate Robin Colarusso on becoming our newest season ticket holder and our first season ticket holder for life," said Patriots President Jonathan Kraft. "Our goal was to create rewards that would make the Patriots instant ticket one of the most popular games ever and we're happy to see the tremendous success the scratch ticket has already had in its first few months. The money raised as a result of its success will benefit communities throughout the Commonwealth."
In another exciting game feature, two bonus drawing winners will have the chance to take home $1 million in the "Million Dollar Drive." During two separate home games, a contestant will step onto the Gillette Stadium field to pick from 24 hidden prizes on larger-than-life instant tickets. Eight tickets will be worth $100,000; six will be worth $200,000; four others will be worth $300,000; two prizes will be worth $400,000; another two are valued at $500,000 and two grand prize tickets will be worth $1 million.
"The layers of prizes in this game are truly unique," said Lottery Executive Director Mark Cavanagh. "The number and variety of winning experiences in this instant ticket is unparalleled in the industry."
About the Massachusetts State Lottery
The 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 (178) and more often (.657 winning percentage) than any other NFL team. For more information, please visit www.patriots.com.
