Mega Millions tickets rise to $5, but the lottery promises more giant jackpots
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mega Millions players will get slightly better odds and should start seeing more billion-dollar jackpots, but at a cost - literally - with tickets for the multistate lottery jumping in price to $5.
The price for playing Mega Millions more than doubled for drawings, but lottery officials are betting that the swollen jackpots they're expecting will catch the public's attention and lead to an accompanying surge in sales.
"People really want big jackpots," said Joshua Johnston, the Washington state lottery director who heads the Mega Millions game. "We expect to see a sales lift on this."
Administrators say the raised prices increase the odds of winning.
The higher ticket price also means the jackpot can start at $50 million, rather than the previous $20 million, and that the grand prize is expected to grow more quickly. Each time there isn't a big winner, the jackpot will jump by a larger amount. Officials expect it will more frequently top the $1 billion threshold that draws extra attention - and bigger sales.
At the Lucky Lotto store on the Upper West Side at 96th and Amsterdam, a lucky person won $1 million back in February.
The men who work there said the jump from $2 to $5 for a ticket has made absolutely no difference to the hard-core lottery customers they see each day.
By noon on Tuesday, they said 100 people had come in to buy at ticket for Tuesday night's jackpot.
RELATED | Celebrate new Mega Millions format with a free ticket this month
The odds used to be 1 in 302 million to win the jackpot and now they are 1 in 292 million.
Under the new rules, prizes for tickets not matching all six numbers also will increase, with non-jackpot winners now guaranteed at least $10. Each ticket also will include a randomly assigned multiplier that can increase the prize by up to 10 times, a previous add-on feature that cost an extra $1. The multiplier doesn't apply to a jackpot.
The new rules have two main goals: to address what the industry calls "jackpot fatigue" and to differentiate Mega Millions from Powerball, the other lottery draw game played across the country.
Jackpot fatigue is the phenomenon under which prizes must grow to enormous amounts before most players will take note and buy a few tickets. These days, a $300 million prize that once drew lines at mini-marts barely registers.
With the new rules, officials expect those average winning jackpots to climb from about $450 million to $800 million, Johnston said. And they believe that even lottery fatigue is no match for the more frequent billion-dollar prize.
Mega Millions is available in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Top Mega Millions Jackpots
1. $1.602 billion, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket in Florida)
2. $1.537 billion, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket in South Carolina)
3. $1.348 billion, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket in Maine)
4. $1.337 billion, July 29, 2022 (one ticket in Illinois)
5. $1.22 billion, Dec. 27, 2024 (one ticket in California)
6. $1.128 billion, March 26, 2024 (one ticket in New Jersey)
7. $1.050 billion, Jan. 22, 2021 (one ticket in Michigan)
8. $810 million, Sept. 10, 2024 (one ticket in Texas)
9. $656 million, March 30, 2012 (three tickets in Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland)
10. $648 million, Dec. 17, 2013 (two tickets sold in California, Georgia)
Here is a look at the 10 largest U.S. jackpots that have been won and the states where the winning tickets were sold:
1. $2.040 billion, Powerball, Nov. 7, 2022 (one ticket: California)
2. $1.765 billion, Powerball, Oct. 11, 2023 (one ticket: California)
3. $1.602 billion, Mega Millions, Aug. 8, 2023 (one ticket: Florida)
4. $1.586 billion, Powerball, Jan. 13, 2016 (three tickets: California, Florida and Tennessee)
5. $1.537 billion, Mega Millions, Oct. 23, 2018 (one ticket: South Carolina)
6. $1.348 billion, Mega Millions, Jan. 13, 2023 (one ticket: Maine)
7. $1.337 billion, Mega Millions, July 29, 2022 (one ticket: Illinois)
8. $1.22 billion, December 27, 2024 (one ticket in California)
9. $1.128 billion, March 26, 2024 (one ticket in New Jersey)
10. $1.08 billion, Powerball, July, 19, 2023 (one ticket: California)
WATCH: New York state lottery drawings live daily at 2:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8:15 p.m.
Powerball drawings are also streamed here on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m.
Mega Millions drawings are streamed on Tuesday and Friday at 11:00 p.m.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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