RALEIGH – If there is one thing people like as much as cash prizes, it might be free pizza. Thanks to a unique partnership between the Education Lottery and Papa John’s, a new scratch-off game starting Tuesday offers the chance to win up to $20,000 instantly and enter a special drawing that will award winners free pizza for a year.

In a first for the lottery industry, every $2 ticket features a bonus code that can be redeemed for a free Papa John’s menu item or discount. Mike Smith, Papa John’s operations vice president, explained how the joint venture began.

“Papa John’s sponsors many of the same events as the lottery across North Carolina, like this week’s Bank of America 500 weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway,” he said. “We thought, ‘Why not work together on a game? This could be fun for everyone.’”

The lottery’s executive director Alice Garland gave the green light to collaborate on a new kind of instant game.

“We saw the potential for something original that would appeal to a broad audience,” she said. “Teaming up with Papa John’s on this ticket is part of our strategy to achieve our goal of $1.9 billion in sales this year.”

The game begins with $3.7 million in cash prizes and free menu items and discounts from Papa Johns valued at $3 million. The odds of winning one of the game’s four $20,000 top prizes are 1 in 720,000 with 1 in 4.41 overall odds of winning a lottery prize.

By belonging to or joining the lottery’s official players’ club at Lucke-Zone.com, members have the chance to enter a special drawing that will award five lucky winners free pizza for a year. Fifteen more winners will get pizza parties.

A player can redeem a discount or free menu item found on a ticket – such as free pizza, chicken wings or bread sticks – by ordering from a North Carolina Papa John’s location online and entering the bonus code.

Net lottery proceeds will be used this year to help pay salaries of teachers and teacher assistants, for pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, school construction and repair, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid. To date, the lottery has raised more than $3.4 billion for the state.