Mega Millions lottery is more then doubling the price of a ticket to $5
CNN
The cost of a Mega Millions ticket is more than doubling, but the multi-state lottery game is promising that the bigger price comes with better odds.
The cost of a Mega Millions ticket is more than doubling, but the multi-state lottery game is promising that the bigger price comes with better odds. Beginning in April 2025, a ticket will increase in price to $5 from $2. The price will spark a “new and improved game” that includes improved odds to win and bigger prizes, lottery officials announced Monday. It’s the second time the price of a ticket has increased in Mega Millions’ 22-year history: In 2017, the price jumped from $1 to $2 — the same cost of a Powerball ticket. That’s also when Mega Millions adopted its current format of choosing six total numbers from two different pools – and when all the numbers match, including the gold Mega Ball, the player wins the jackpot. Since those changes, the jackpot has breached the billion-dollar mark six times including, most recently in 2023, when a record-breaking $1.6 billion ticket was won in Florida. Notably, of the lottery’s top 10 biggest-ever jackpots, three occurred this year. Mega Millions said that the increased ticket price will cause larger-starting jackpots, as well as faster-growing jackpots. There will also be no “breakeven prizes,” meaning that every winning ticket will be more than the cost of a $5 ticket. Additional details of the tweaked game will be released in the coming months.