Connecticut Lottery Offers Tickets Commemorating UConn Basketball Victories |

Date Published: January 7, 2025, 03:51h.

Last Updated on: January 7, 2025, 03:51h.

The Connecticut Lottery has launched a line of scratch-off tickets commemorating the national championships won by UConn basketball teams.

Paige Bueckers, pictured above. The UConn women’s basketball star is one of many well-known players on the women’s and men’s teams. The state lottery recently began offering a game honoring the teams. (Image: *UConn WBB Weekly*)

The limited-edition Championship scratch-off tickets went on sale on Monday for $5 each at over 2,800 retail locations statewide.

Players have a chance to win up to $3.5M, with three top prizes of $50,000 each.

Working with UConn is a significant step forward for us, and we are embracing the ‘basketball capital of the world’ tag that UConn and the governor’s office have promoted,” said Brett Steen, senior marketing director at the Connecticut Lottery, speaking to New Haven TV station WTNH.

The game has a total of 1,026,500 tickets available, with overall odds of winning at 1 in 3.54.

Winners must match their numbers to the winning numbers. Scratching off a “2X” will double the prize shown, while a “3X” will triple it. The same applies to a “5X” and “10X” for multipliers.

Controversy Spurs Discussion

Last year, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, approved signs on state highways reading, “Welcome to Connecticut, Home of the Basketball Capital of the World.” These signs are on highways like I-91 and I-84, near the Massachusetts border.

The signs drew criticism from Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, as both states have strong basketball traditions.

While UConn is celebrated for its national championships, Massachusetts is also renowned for basketball, as Springfield is the birthplace of the sport, and the NBA’s Boston Celtics have 18 championships.

UConn’s Winning Legacy

UConn’s men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley hails the university’s main campus in Storrs as the “Basketball Capital of the World.”

As of last year, UConn had won a total of 17 NCAA basketball national championships across men’s and women’s teams.

In the current 2024-25 season, UConn’s men’s team is ranked ninth with a 12-3 record, while the women’s team is seventh with a 13-2 record. The teams also play in Hartford and New York City, and there is speculation about conference realignment in the future.

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