RELEASE DATE: 3/6/2024
What a difference a year makes! By this time last year, Mega Millions® had already awarded four different jackpots in 2023, at $1.348 billion, $20 million, $31 million and $33 million. It was an unprecedented start to a highly unusual year that saw the jackpot get hit 10 times, from a new game record of $1.602 billion in August down to two won at the starting value of $20 million. Truly, Mega Millions jackpots can be won anytime, anywhere.
Now, all eyes turn to the next drawing on Friday, March 8, with excitement building after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 2, 49, 50, 61 and 70, plus the gold Mega Ball 14. For the 26th drawing in the current jackpot run, Friday’s estimated jackpot grows to $687 million ($332.3 million cash). If won at that level, it would be the sixth largest Mega Millions prize ever awarded; only the game’s five jackpots exceeding $1 billion have been higher. The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won with two tickets in California on December 8.
As the jackpot continues to grow, so does the overall number of winning tickets – a total of 1,174,495 at all prize levels in the March 5 drawing alone. Two tickets matched the five white balls to win the game’s second-tier prize; they were sold in California and Michigan. Across the country, 23 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Four of those are worth $20,000 each because they included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 2X Tuesday night. The other 19 third-tier winning tickets take home the standard $10,000 each.
Through the 25 drawings in this jackpot run to date, there have been more than 17.3 million winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels, ranging from $2 up to $4 million. These include 28 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 17 different jurisdictions from coast to coast: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
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 |
| $687 million (est) |
3/8/2024 |
? |
| $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 |
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