Proposed changes are official
Updated with additional prize details
By Kate Northrop
Mega Millions has officially confirmed that several new game changes are on the way, including a ticket price increase from $2 to $5.
The Mega Millions Consortium has announced that it is preparing for a "mega" overhaul, with plans for game enhancements coming April 2025.
Back in June, Lottery Post reported on proposed changes to the game that were initially made public by the Montana Lottery in a commission meeting. While many of the specifics discussed in the meeting, such as the prize structure and number matrix, were technically unofficial and subject to change, a game revamp is definitely coming.
Starting in April 2025, ticket prices will increase from $2 to $5. According to Mega Millions, it is the game's second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017.
Additionally, the Megaplier will no longer be optional — it will automatically be added to every play and offers a chance to improve non-jackpot prizes by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, or 10X, up to $10 million.
The Mega Millions Consortium also announced better odds of winning the jackpot. Although the Consortium did not provide prize structures and odds in this week's announcement, the Montana Lottery revealed in a September commission meeting that the new odds are 1 in 290 million down from 1 in 302.5 million.
In the same meeting, the Montana Lottery revealed that one number will be removed from the Mega Ball number matrix, confirming our estimate that the new Mega Ball number matrix would be reduced to 1 through 24.
There will be no breakeven prizes, meaning that the lowest-tier prize will be more than the cost of the ticket. The new overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 23.07.
While the odds of winning have changed at every prize tier, the Montana Lottery's presentation shows that only the two lowest prize tiers have changed monetary prize amounts. The base prize has increased from $2 to $5, and the second lowest-tier prize has increased from $4 to $7. To account for the automatically added Megaplier, those amounts will beget a prize ranging from $10 to $50 and $14 to $70, respectively.
See the Montana Lottery presentation slide below for the full prize chart, including the range of prizes that can be won at each prize level and other detailed financial information about each prize level.
The starting jackpot will also increase, a positive change that players have been asking for since the pandemic. Currently, the jackpot resets to $20 million every time it is won. Although the new starting jackpot amount was not listed in the Mega Millions Consortium's announcement, the Montana Lottery confirmed a $50 million figure in their September commission meeting.
Lastly, Mega Millions anticipates bigger and faster growing jackpots occurring more frequently as a result of the changes. The Montana Lottery revealed that the estimated average jackpot win will increase from $456 million to $803 million.
"We are creating a game that both our existing players and people new to Mega Millions will love and get excited about playing," Mega Millions Consortium Lead Director Joshua Johnston said in a press release. "We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played."
As we get closer to the game re-launch in the Spring, there will be more information about the game enhancements coming to light, the Mega Millions media team advised Lottery Post.
The Montana Lottery stated in their September meeting that the new game rules are not in effect until sales of the new game begin April 5, 2025, and with the drawing on April 8, 2025. Until then, the current game rules will remain.
More than 1,200 Mega Millions players have become millionaires since the last game update in 2017, according to the Consortium, averaging 3 new millionaires per week.
Since the game's inception in 2002, the multi-state game has produced six winners of billion-dollar jackpots. The last time a billion-dollar jackpot was won was in March, when one single ticket sold at ShopRite Liquor in Neptune Township, New Jersey laid claim to the entire $1.13 billion prize. The winner has yet to come forward to claim the unimaginable stack of cash.
A trust in Texas was the last winner to claim a Mega Millions jackpot at $800 million for the drawing on Sept. 10, 2024. It was the biggest prize every paid out to a lone lottery winner in Texas, and the 13th largest lottery jackpot in U.S. history.
The next Mega Millions drawing will take place on Tues, Oct. 8 at 11:00 p.m. EST for a jackpot of $129 million.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
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Wait, are u saying megaplier will be automatically added?
I like what I've read so far but at 5 bucks a ticket I'll economize my purchases ie maybe buy my first ticket when it reaches $200 mil and 2 tickets when it reaches $400 mil and so on and so forth.
The automatic multiplier and the 10x ie $10 mil prize is AWESOME!
Now I think I'll go prepare a liverwurst sandwich with lettuce tomato onion Swiss cheese and Dijon mustard on rye bread and a side of 3 gherkin pickles ... and a moxie or birch beer to wash it all down with.
P.U.! Who cut the cheese in here?
These People Really Tripping, Guess Ill B Dropping My Set Of Numbers For MM✌🏾✌🏾✌🏾
5 dollars is insane per line. Nope nope nope. Guess I'll keep trying to win until April but after that, there's just no way. I predict Powerball will follow closely behind as well. Yikes.
Not buying their tickets would send a heck of a statement.
It's up to the people to let them know!
"The Mega Millions Consortium also announced better odds of winning the jackpot."
Cool.
"new proposed odds were 1 in 290 million DOWN from 1 in 302.5 million."
Wow, how generous of them. Bet they'll be bragging about being 2 million to 1 less than PB.
When you think about it ...... when you're standing in line at the lottery checkout ..... how many times do you see the scratchers buy a fiver or 10 or 20 30 or 50 ticket?
Five dollars and a dream anyone???
Yes, a multiplier will be included with every ticket.
The Mega Millions group is not ready to announce how the new Megaplier will work, but my guess is that they will eliminate the Megaplier drawing altogether, and instead every ticket will have a random multiplier generated on it. Any prize your ticket wins would be multiplied by the random Megaplier number printed on the ticket.
Again, this is not based on anything stated by the lotteries, but is my guess based on how other similar multipliers have been implemented elsewhere.
Not sure I like that ..... prefer the multiplier draw!
Vote with your wallet and boycott.
People are retarded though, they'll still sell. They could probably set ticket prices at $10,000 per one line and ppl would still buy them.
I currently spend $3/ticket since I always get the Megaplier so in other words, I spend $6/week on MegaMillions.
I may cut back to once a week unless the cash prize gets high say around $500 million.
Personally, I think this will go over like a ton of bricks and MegaMillions will lose players.
When I first read the article, I thought the increase was steep, but it looks like there won't be nickel and diming and no having the retailer trying to upsell the ticket with additions.
Hopefully, it will stay at $5 for at least Ten years.
Speaking of game changes, is everyone familiar with JumboBucks ending on 11/14 in Georgia?
So it used to cost me $10.00 for 5 tickets and it's now going to cost me$25.00
If that's the case I won't buy tickets until that jackpot hits over 1Billion and even then I'll buy two tickets!