Mega Millions Jackpot Closes In on $800 Million

0
227

March 13, 2024 – With its own version of March Madness, the Mega Millions® jackpot is still rising. After no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 2, 16, 31, 57 and 64, plus the gold Mega Ball 24 – the jackpot for the next drawing on Friday, March 15, is currently estimated at $792 million ($381.8 million cash). If won, it would be the sixth largest jackpot since the game began in 2002; only five jackpots exceeding $1 billion have been higher.

For 27 consecutive drawings, the jackpot has been growing. Since the top prize was last won with two tickets in California on December 8, there have been almost 19.9 million winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels, ranging from $2 up to $4 million. These include 32 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 19 different jurisdictions from coast to coast: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

In the March 12 drawing alone, there were a total of 1,368,940 winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels. Two tickets matched the five white balls to win the game’s $1 million second-tier prize; they were sold in Massachusetts and North Carolina. Across the country, 32 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Five of those are worth $30,000 each because they included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 3X Tuesday night. The other 27 third-tier winning tickets take home the standard $10,000 each.

Mega Millions is the only lottery game that has awarded five jackpots exceeding $1 billion – all in different states (Florida, South Carolina, Maine, Illinois and Michigan). Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 each; in most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes. Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold, where the money supports designated good causes and retailer commissions.

Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia. The overall odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24; the odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.

See the complete Mega Millions jackpot history.

The top Mega Millions jackpots:

Amount Date Winning Tickets
$1.602 billion 8/8/2023 1-FL
$1.537 billion 10/23/2018 1-SC
$1.348 billion 1/13/2023 1-ME
$1.337 billion 7/29/2022 1-IL
$1.050 billion 1/22/2021 1-MI
$792 million (est) 3/15/2024 ?
$656 million 3/30/2012 3-IL, KS, MD
$648 million 12/17/2013 2-CA, GA
$543 million 7/24/2018 1-CA
$536 million 7/8/2016 1-IN

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter!