6th-largest Mega Millions jackpot of all time

By Todd Northrop

After its months-long build-up, the multi-state Mega Millions jackpot is finally starting to increase rapidly as tickets are bring scooped up by loyal and casual players alike.

In the Tuesday night Mega Millions drawing no player won the top prize, increasing the jackpot estimate for Friday night's Mega Millions drawing to $363 million, with a lump-sum cash option of $244.6 million.

That pegs the annuity jackpot as the 6th-largest jackpot in Mega Millions history, and overall tied for the 15th-largest United States lottery jackpot of all time.  The cash option is the 9th-largest ever seen in any United States lottery game — and the third-largest Mega Millions cash value ever recorded.  (See the full list of top-25 United States annuity and cash lottery jackpots below.)

The jackpot that Friday's Mega Millions grand prize is tied with at #15 on the list is rather significant to both Lottery Post and USA Mega, because that other $363 million jackpot was for The Big Game drawing on May 9, 2000 — the largest lottery jackpot the world had ever seen at the time, and the event that essentially launched BigGameLottery.com (the original name of USA Mega) and Lottery Post.

In fact, the first news post on USA Mega was "It's official! The Big Game is the largest jackpot in US history." Then on May 10th the exciting news that the record-setting jackpot was won was announced with the rather underwhelming-in-hindsight statement, "There were two winning tickets sold in Tuesday's record-setting $350 million jackpot."  (Which was later discovered to be $363 million after the final tally of all ticket sales.)

To think that in the span of 15 years record-setting multi-state lottery jackpots went from $363 million to $1.6 billion is truly momentous. And during that time, Lottery Post and USA Mega have been documenting each rise and fall of every Mega Millions and Powerball jackpot.

However, in a blow to nostalgia, the next time a US jackpot cash value enters the top-25, it will knock the Big Game cash value from that May 2000 drawing ($180 million) off the chart.

Back to Friday's jackpot, lottery players can see an after-tax analysis of the current Mega Millions jackpot by visiting USA Mega's Jackpot Analysis page.

Friday's Mega Millions jackpot is the accumulation of 30 consecutive drawings without a top prize winner.  The current jackpot run-up started on March 11 as a $15 million grand prize — it has been three and a half months since Mega Millions has had a jackpot winner.

Players should note that jackpot amounts are conservative estimates provided by the lotteries, and are often somewhat higher by the time the drawing occurs.

In the latest Mega Millions drawing that took place this past Tuesday night, there was no jackpot winner, but 2 lucky players matched the first 5 numbers for a $1,000,000 prize: 1 from Michigan and 1 from Texas.

Neither of the two second-place winners purchased their ticket with the Megaplier option for an extra $1 per play. If they had, their prize would have been increased to $5 million, because the Megaplier number drawn was 5.

The Megaplier option is not available in California, because the fixed nature of the prize increase offered with the Megaplier is not compatible with California's pari-mutuel payouts. By law, California awards all prizes on a pari-mutuel basis, meaning the prizes will change each drawing based on the number of tickets sold and the number of tickets that won at each prize level.

A total of 64 tickets matched four of the first five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win a $5,000 prize. Of those tickets, 9 were purchased with the Megaplier option, increasing the prize to $25,000, and 4 were sold in California, where the prize awarded this drawing was $13,338.

The Mega Millions winning numbers for Tuesday, June 21, 2016, were 6, 13, 21, 49, and 50, with Mega Ball number 10. The Megaplier number was 5.

Following the Tuesday drawing, the Mega Millions annuity jackpot estimate was raised $30 million from its previous amount of $333 million. The cash value was raised by $18.4 million, from its previous amount of $226.2 million.

Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 44 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $1 each.

The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.

Top 25 United States lottery jackpots of all time

Friday's Mega Millions jackpot currently stands as the 15th-largest lottery jackpot of all time in the United States.  That position may rise before the drawing Friday night, as lotteries are typically conservative in their initial estimates, and brisk sales may push the jackpot estimate higher by draw time.

1. Powerball: $1.5864 billion, Jan. 13, 2016 - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $656 million, Mar. 30, 2012 - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Mega Millions: $636 million, Dec. 17, 2013 - California, Georgia
4. Powerball: $590.5 million, May 18, 2013 - Florida
5. Powerball: $587.5 million, Nov. 28, 2012 - Arizona, Missouri
6. Powerball: $564.1 million, Feb. 11, 2015 - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
7. Powerball: $448.4 million, Aug. 7, 2013 - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
8. Powerball: $429.6 million, May 7, 2016 - New Jersey
9. Powerball: $425.3 million, Feb. 19, 2014 - California
10. Mega Millions: $414 million, Mar. 18, 2014 - Florida, Maryland
11. Powerball: $399.4 million, Sep. 18, 2013 - South Carolina
12. Mega Millions: $390 million, Mar. 6, 2007 - Georgia, New Jersey
13. Mega Millions: $380 million, Jan. 4, 2011 - Idaho, Washington
14. Powerball: $365 million, Feb. 18, 2006 - Nebraska
15. Mega Millions: $363 million, Jun. 24, 2016 - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
15. The Big Game: $363 million, May 9, 2000 - Illinois, Michigan
17. Powerball: $340 million, Oct. 19, 2005 - Oregon
18. Powerball: $338.3 million, Mar. 23, 2013 - New Jersey
19. Powerball: $337 million, Aug. 15, 2012 - Michigan
20. Powerball: $336.4 million, Feb. 11, 2012 - Rhode Island
21. Mega Millions: $336 million, Aug. 28, 2009 - California, New York
22. The Big Game: $331 million, Apr. 16, 2002 - Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey
23. Mega Millions: $330 million, Aug. 31, 2007 - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
24. Mega Millions: $321 million, Nov. 4, 2014 - New York
25. Mega Millions: $319 million, Mar. 25, 2011 - New York

For those keeping score, the number of jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 13
• Mega Millions: 10
• The Big Game: 2

The Big Game is the original name of Mega Millions, from the game's first drawing on Sep. 6, 1996 through May 14, 2002.  The name was changed to Mega Millions starting with the May 17, 2002 drawing.

Top 25 cash value jackpots

Since many lottery winners collect their winnings in cash, the lump-sum payout is an important measure of what a winning ticket could be worth.

Looking at the cash value, the upcoming Mega Millions jackpot ranks as the 9th-largest cash value in U.S. history.

1. Powerball: $983.5 million cash, Jan. 13, 2016 ($1.5864 billion annuity) - California, Florida, Tennessee
2. Mega Millions: $471 million cash, Mar. 30, 2012 ($656 million annuity) - Illinois, Kansas, Maryland
3. Powerball: $384.7 million cash, Nov. 28, 2012 ($587.5 million annuity) - Arizona, Missouri
4. Powerball: $381.1 million cash, Feb. 11, 2015 ($564.1 million annuity) - North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas
5. Powerball: $370.9 million cash, May 18, 2013 ($590.5 million annuity) - Florida
6. Mega Millions: $347.6 million cash, Dec. 17, 2013 ($636 million annuity) - California, Georgia
7. Powerball: $284 million cash, May 7, 2016 ($429.6 million annuity) - New Jersey
8. Powerball: $258.2 million cash, Aug. 7, 2013 ($448.4 million annuity) - Minnesota, New Jersey (2)
9. Mega Millions: $244.6 million cash, Jun. 24, 2016 ($363 million annuity) - Preliminary estimate, not won yet
10. Mega Millions: $240 million cash, Jan. 4, 2011 ($380 million annuity) - Idaho, Washington
11. Mega Millions: $233.1 million cash, Mar. 6, 2007 ($390 million annuity) - Georgia, New Jersey
12. Mega Millions: $230.9 million cash, Mar. 18, 2014 ($414 million annuity) - Florida, Maryland
13. Powerball: $227.8 million cash, Feb. 19, 2014 ($425.3 million annuity) - California
14. Powerball: $224.7 million cash, Aug. 15, 2012 ($337 million annuity) - Michigan
15. Powerball: $223.3 million cash, Sep. 18, 2013 ($399.4 million annuity) - South Carolina
16. Mega Millions: $214 million cash, Aug. 28, 2009 ($336 million annuity) - California, New York
17. Powerball: $211 million cash, Mar. 23, 2013 ($338.3 million annuity) - New Jersey
18. Powerball: $210 million cash, Feb. 11, 2012 ($336.4 million annuity) - Rhode Island
19. Mega Millions: $202.9 million cash, Mar. 25, 2011 ($319 million annuity) - New York
20. Mega Millions: $197.5 million cash, Nov. 4, 2014 ($321 million annuity) - New York
21. Powerball: $197.4 million cash, Sep. 30, 2015 ($310.5 million annuity) - Michigan
22. Mega Millions: $194.4 million cash, Aug. 31, 2007 ($330 million annuity) - Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Virginia
23. Powerball: $191.9 million cash, Mar. 2, 2016 ($291.4 million annuity) - Florida
24. Mega Millions: $185 million cash, Nov. 15, 2005 ($315 million annuity) - California
25. The Big Game: $180 million cash, May 9, 2000 ($363 million annuity) - Illinois, Michigan

The number of cash value jackpots in the top 25, by lottery game, are:

• Powerball: 13
• Mega Millions: 11
• The Big Game: 1