VIDEO: US lottery winners ‘a little scared’

A Tennessee couple came forward with what they said was one of the three winning tickets for this week’s record $1.6bn (€1.46bn) US Powerball lottery jackpot, appearing with their lawyer on NBC’s Today show.

Lisa and John Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, must present the ticket to Tennessee lottery officials for verification in order to claim their one-third share of the largest lottery prize ever offered in North America.

The Robinsons said they had reached out to NBC on the advice of their lawyer, who advised them to go on national TV first as a way of controlling the story.

John Robinson said he and his wife were excited but “a little scared”. Lisa Robinson said they had not had time to think about what they would do with their winnings but that she planned to return on Monday to her job at a dermatologist’s office.

All three states with winners have laws requiring their names to be released publicly.

Each of the winners overcame odds of 1 in 292.2m to land on all the numbers.

They can let their winnings be invested and collect 30 annual payments totaling an estimated $533m, or take their third of $983.5m in cash all at once.