This holiday season, Mega Millions players have a chance to win an estimated $1.15 billion after Tuesday’s drawing failed to produce a jackpot winner.
Mega Millions players have got the opportunity to emerge winners of an estimated $1.15 billion during the holiday season after the disappointment of Tuesday’s drawing where no jackpot winner emerged.
“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement.
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays – whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or any other way people choose to celebrate the season – than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and prizes that will be won at all levels of the game.”
The reward, which accumulated as the largest ever that has been offered in December, now has a cash option of $516.1 million.
This new record makes it the seventh time the jackpot has gone above $1 billion, with former victories in states that include Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, and New Jersey. 11, 14, 38, 45, and 46 were the Tuesday numbers, and Mega Ball 3 made $1 million in prizes for four tickets that were sold in California, Missouri, Wyoming, and Pennsylvania.
This jackpot would hit the fifth-largest in Mega Millions that has ever been made in history or won on Friday. There have only been three jackpot wins this year, and the lowest since it was established occurred in 2002.
The tickets for Mega Millions now cost $2, with the odds of winning the jackpot at 1 in 302.5 million. Ticket prices will increase to $5 with added features as it starts in April 2025; which includes larger starting jackpots and improved odds.