The store sign shows the annuity jackpot, then the cash option on the results page is way lower. I understand they are different choices but not how that cash figure gets set for each drawing. What actually makes it move up or down?
The big sign is the estimated annuity, not a pile of cash waiting at the lottery office. For a US Powerball jackpot, the annuity is one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5% each year. The cash option is the estimated amount in the jackpot prize pool needed on draw day to fund those future payments.
Interest rates affect how much cash is needed to fund the annuity, and ticket sales affect the prize pool, so the two figures do not move in a fixed ratio. Both published choices are estimates before federal and jurisdictional taxes until sales and funding details are final.