BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Mega Millions to draw numbers Friday for $940M jackpot

A clerk at Broad Street Liquors updates the Mega Millions jackpot at the store’s lottery counter, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Timonium, Md. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

Mortgage Calculator

This calculator helps you estimate your monthly mortgage payment. It adds up the loan payment (principal + interest), property tax, and insurance. The loan payment is spread out over the years of your loan term.

This is the total amount you're borrowing from the bank.
This is the yearly interest rate on your loan.
This is how long you'll take to repay the loan.
This is the yearly tax you pay on your property.
This is the yearly cost to insure your home.

Monthly Payment Breakdown

Principal and Interest: $

Property Tax: $

Homeowners Insurance: $

Total Estimated Monthly Payment: $

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — Another massive lottery jackpot is up for grabs Friday, as the Mega Millions prize is up to $940 million, ranking as the sixth largest in U.S. history.

The numbers will be drawn live at 11 p.m. ET on Friday, and residents can play in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

That comes less than two months after a player in California won a record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot. Players also won lottery prizes topping $1 billion earlier in 2022 and in 2021.

“It’s thrilling to see the Mega Millions jackpot grow throughout the holidays, and now, into the New Year,” said Pat McDonald, the director of the Ohio Lottery who also leads the state lotteries overseeing the Mega Millions game.

The credit for the big prizes is actually due to math — and more difficult odds.

In the fall of 2017, lottery officials approved changes to Mega Millions that significantly lengthened the odds from one in 258.9 million to one in 302.6 million. They made similar changes to Powerball in October 2015, worsening the odds from one in 175.2 million to one in 292.2 million.

Mega Millions explained that players may pick up to six numbers from two separate pools of numbers — five different numbers from 1 to 70 (the white balls) and one number from 1 to 25 (the gold Mega Ball). Players also have the option to randomize play, where the game auto-selects numbers randomly for them.

The idea was that by making jackpots less common, ticket revenue could build up week after week, creating giant prizes that would attract attention and pull in more players who had grown blasé about $100 million or $200 million top prizes.

A player wins the jackpot by matching all six winning numbers in a drawing.

In August 2021, Powerball also added a third weekly drawing, which enabled the jackpot to roll over and grow even more quickly as people had more chances to play, and lose. Mega Millions has stuck with the two weekly drawings.

Thanks to those moves, nine of the top 10 largest lottery prizes have been won since 2017.

Of course, those uber-rich winners aren’t quite as wealthy as it would seem.

That’s because the advertised jackpots are for winners who agree to take their money over 29 years in an annuity. Winners almost always choose the cash option, which for Friday’s drawing would be $483.5 million.

For those interested in playing, tickets cost $2 per play, and players can buy tickets up until 15 minutes before the drawing.

The Associated Press’s Scott McFetridge and Margaret Stafford contributed to this report.

Your Money

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Site Settings Survey

 

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Sunny

la

66°F Sunny Feels like 66°
Wind
4 mph SSW
Humidity
33%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
52°F Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 52F. Winds light and variable.
Wind
4 mph S
Precip
16%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous