This holiday season, one lucky Mega Millions player could start the new year with a life-changing $1.15 billion prize after Tuesday’s drawing yielded no jackpot winner.
This marks just the seventh time in Mega Millions history that the jackpot has surpassed $1 billion. Previous billion-dollar prizes were awarded in South Carolina (2018), Michigan (2021), Illinois (2022), Maine and Florida (2023), and New Jersey (March 2023). The Florida jackpot of $1.602 billion remains the game’s record.
Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, highlighted the holiday spirit in a statement: “Many people may receive tickets for Friday’s drawing as gifts, and what a gift it would be to win a $1.15 billion jackpot. It’s a dream-fulfilling way to celebrate the season, no matter the holiday.”
Tuesday’s winning numbers were 11, 14, 38, 45, 46, and Mega Ball 3. While no ticket matched all six numbers, four tickets—sold in California, Missouri, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania—matched the first five numbers, earning their owners $1 million each.
The last Mega Millions jackpot win was three months ago when a Houston-area resident claimed $810 million after purchasing a ticket at a convenience store in Sugar Land. Earlier in 2024, a $552 million jackpot was won in Illinois in June, and New Jersey claimed a $1.128 billion prize in March.
If Friday’s prize is claimed, it will rank as the fifth-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history.
The Mega Millions organization also noted that 2024 has been an unusual year for the game, with only three jackpot wins so far—the lowest number in a single year since the game began in 2002.
Starting in April 2025, the cost of a Mega Millions ticket will rise to $5 per play, the lottery announced in October. This price increase will be accompanied by several “enhancements,” including better odds, more frequent and larger jackpots, and higher starting jackpots.
This will be the second time the ticket price has increased since Mega Millions launched in 2002.
Mega Millions tickets are available in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands, with drawings held at 11 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, tickets cost $2, and the odds of winning the jackpot are approximately 1 in 302.5 million.
Mega Millions lottery is more than doubling the price of a ticket to $5
The cost of a Mega Millions ticket will more than double starting in April 2025, with the price rising from $2 to $5. Along with the price increase, the lottery game promises a “new and improved” experience, offering better odds of winning and larger prizes, according to an announcement made on Monday.
This marks the second ticket price increase in Mega Millions’ 22-year history. The first price hike occurred in 2017, when the ticket cost rose from $1 to $2, aligning with the price of a Powerball ticket. It was also at this time that Mega Millions adopted its current format, where players choose six numbers from two separate pools, and match all six, including the gold Mega Ball, to win the jackpot.
Since the format change in 2017, the Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed the billion-dollar mark six times, including the record-breaking $1.6 billion win in Florida in 2023. Notably, three of the lottery’s top 10 largest jackpots have been won this year alone.
With the upcoming $5 ticket price, Mega Millions promises larger starting jackpots and faster-growing prizes. Additionally, there will be no “breakeven prizes”—every winning ticket will be worth more than the cost of the $5 ticket.
More details about the revamped game will be shared in the coming months.
“We anticipate more billion-dollar jackpots than ever, creating even more billionaires and millions of new millionaires as the prizes grow,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “This game will continue its important legacy of supporting great causes wherever Mega Millions is played.”
Mega Millions is available in 45 states, Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands, with drawings taking place on Tuesday and Friday nights at 11 p.m. ET.