Mega Millions jackpot rises to over $1 billion: NPR

The next Mega Millions drawing – with a jackpot estimated at $1.15 billion – will take place on December 27th.

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Anyone hoping for an early gift on Christmas Eve may have been disappointed when no winning Mega Millions jackpot ticket was drawn. But the prize has now grown to an estimated $1.15 billion – which Mega Millions says could be the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.

“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as Christmas gifts, and what a gift that would be to end up with a ticket worth $1.15 billion,” says Joshua Johnston , executive director of the Mega Millions consortium, said in an online statement.

Tickets cost $2 each, and the company says half of the proceeds from the sale of each ticket stay in the state where the ticket was sold.

The company also said the Mega Millions jackpot has only been won three times so far in 2024.

The highest jackpot ever won on a Mega Millions jackpot was $1.6 billion in 2023. The winning ticket was sold in Florida.

According to Mega Millions, the odds of winning the jackpot are one in 302,575.35. The Probability of being struck by lightning According to the National Weather Service, it’s only one in 15,300 in your lifetime.