Embedded multiplier produces total payout that is nearly $40 million greater
By Kate Northrop
Within the first month since the Mega Millions multi-state game overhaul, the Mega Millions Consortium reported that non-jackpot prizes won by players have surged over 300%.
Players have won more than 300% in non-jackpot Mega Millions prizes in the first month since the game's relaunch, the Mega Millions Consortium announced.
On April 8, the Mega Millions game held its first drawing under the new rules, which included a ticket price increase from $2 to $5, an automatically included multiplier, and larger base prize amounts. Lottery officials observed that, in the first drawing alone, the prize payout to players was 5X greater compared to the older version.
In the first nine drawings of the updated multi-state game, the consortium reported that 1.89 million players won $51.3 million in non-jackpot prizes, a 308% increase from the $12.5 million those prizes would have been valued at under the old prize structure. For just matching the Mega Ball alone, players have won $18.8 million, easily exceeding the $12.5 million total amount paid across all prize tiers compared to the previous game version.
Additionally, over 587,000 players won the $10 minimum prize on a winning ticket, or $5 with the lowest multiplier of 2X. At just that prize level, players have won more than double the $2.5 million that they would have won by matching the Mega Ball and winning the old base prize of $2.
"It's exciting to see how players are reacting to the new game, especially when they win," Mega Millions Consortium Lead Director Joshua Johnston said in a press release. "The more they see their winnings multiply, the more they're understanding the value of the new game and why we made the changes we did."
The changes also introduced the 10X multiplier to the game for the first time, whereas the highest multiplier number for the Megaplier add-on feature was 5X. Almost 60,000 winning tickets containing the 10X embedded multiplier have won more $3.8 million across all prize tiers in the first month, according to a statement.
"Prizes at every non-jackpot level are paying out at a combined 2.6X to 7.5X the value they would have under the old game matrix, meaning prizes being awarded at every level are outpacing the game's price adjustment," the consortium said.
Within the first month, five lucky players have won the game's second-tier prize by matching five white balls in a drawing: one Washington player, one New York player, and one Virginia player won $2 million, one Michigan player won $3 million, and another New York player won $4 million.
Four drawings into the new game, one Ohio player became the new game's first jackpot winner when they matched all five white balls plus the gold Mega Ball on April 18 and won the $112 million prize. The jackpot had reset to its new starting amount of $50 million after the draw, which was previously $20 million under the game's old rules.
The next Mega Millions drawing will take place on Tuesday, May 13 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time for a $110 million jackpot.
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 p.m. Eastern Time. Tickets cost $5 each.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
I might be wrong, but I think that is a crock of information.
Maybe Puerto Rico will join Mega Millions....seriously doubt it.
First drawing my secondary prize was $14 and that's been it so far.
Which facts are incorrect?
I still won't play until Jackpot gets over 2 billion dollars for that $5 price but good luck to all
Same here. @14 bucks. Only thing I see is spending 300% more money. 😂
Lets see the data.
Mega Millions says the jackpot will grow faster under the new rules? If by ‘faster’ they mean $10 million at a time, they might want to take a peek at how Powerball does it.
With 150% increase in player cost.
Remember when it was only a $1.00... well, 400% more now!!!
In my opinion, the payouts are poor relative to the cost of a play and probability of winning.
l think you all are being to hard on Mega millions. It's like going on a first date and expecting S.. on first date. So let's all be patient and real here . The real test for mega millions is when the Jackpot gets to $500,000,000 or $1,000,000,000 that is the real test and you know why at $5 a ticket it could Jump from $1,000,000,000 to $1,5000,000,000 or $2,000,000,000. At this point people are upset l understand but once it gets to $1 Billion that is the real test how people will react to the Jackpot fever 🥵 for now No fever yet lol 🤠🦅🙏🍀 . Besides am tired of people stealing the Jackpot with $2 so if you want this Jackpot you need to be a real Man to even Play 🏆🤠
The prizes awarded for every drawing at each prize level, as well as by multiplier level (both before & after the game changes) is reported at USA Mega. The California prizes are even broken out, so you can see the data with 100% accuracy. You can total up the prize amounts yourself and check the math.
As to where the second tier prizes are better than the old format.
What people don't understand about this Mega million is Yes it could be climbing the hill slowly like a truck 🛻 but guess what will happen if it gets to $1billion they will have a New problem When Nobody can win it and it grows to $4,000,000,0000 eventually that will happen before December 2025 my Prediction 🤠🏆🙏🍀🍀
You really need to get serious, with it only moving up 10 million every draw.
It's just math, and like I had mentioned in another reply, you can check the numbers yourself at USA Mega. If you find anything that doesn't match what is in the article, definitely let us know. But if it matches with your calculations, we'd love to know that too.
l perfectly understands the $10 million increase at Moment but you need to understand something else increase is based on current sales so tomorrow increases is not going to be like today's increase matter of fact this could be minimum increase so you haven't even seen a record increase. Life is based on Data. My point is it will take till December 2025 to begin to see the full six month Data. And have made my Calculations and we will see a $4 billion Jackpot or $5 billion Jackpot by Christmas 🎅 2025. Nobody will be talking about Edwin Castro anymore he will be old News 🏆😝🦅🍀🍀
I am spending $5 annually on Mega Millions. Good luck 🍀
Smart man right there ^^^^^^^^^
No,it likes the old train up the hill with $10M each time roll. Forget the billion Jackpot ...
Yea 4 or 5 billion Jackpot,you have to wait till next year Christmas ok....
l put my Money where my bet is So here is the deal we make a $200 side bet that it will get to $4 billion before this Christmas 🤶 lol not a lot of money but at least some Bragging rights 🏆🤠🙏🇺🇸🇺🇸
* I have played one line of MM since the increase & have won $15 & $20. Prior to that, l played at $2.00 a pop and won nothing in over a year. Long story short: l am winning, and l can't argue with that. 👌🏻
I've played 3 times and didn't win anything.
No Maddog. It's 100% correct. Before I did not spend $2 and now I don't spend $5
* If it's any comfort P6, Secretariat finished 4th in his 1st race.
"I might be wrong, but I think that is a crock of information. "
They reduced the odds a bit and the tickets now cost 2.5 times as much as they used to. Or maybe 2.3 times as much is more accurate, since there were always some players that took the $3/ticket option and bought the megaplier. Based on that, the only thing that seems odds is having an increase in payouts fairly close to the increase in price/odds when they're only selling about 60% as many tickets.
"Mega Millions says the jackpot will grow faster under the new rules? "
They never said every single roll would be bigger. You know that so far there have only been 6 rollovers since the first reset under the new rules, right? Those have all been the minimum $10 million but the first 3 rollovers after the rule change averaged $19.3 million.
"You really need to get serious, with it only moving up 10 million every draw. "
For some reason this place is packed with people that are unusually interested in the lottery but somehow seriously lacking in clues about some of the most basic stuff. With a minimum jackpot of $50 million they don't have nearly enough money to pay for a prize that big after the first drawing. The sales for the next drawing are more than enough to pay for the $10 million minimum increase but the excess has to go towards that first $50 million that still isn't paid for. Now that there have been 6 rollovers they have enough money to pay for $105.6 million of the $110 million annuity. Assuming it rolls again they'll have a bit more than they need to pay for a $120 million annuity, so they'll advertise it at about $122 or so. Another rollover after that will push it to the 138 to 140 range.
"they might want to take a peek at how Powerball does it. "
You mean the game that's had 7 rolls instead of 6 and is advertising a $106 million annuity? That's probably a better deal for players at the moment because you've got a chance at 96.4% of the MM jackpot for only 40% of the cost, but neither of the games is designed to benefit players. That's just a necessary evil in order to sell tickets and bring in revenue. After the last 8 drawings (including projected sales for Wednesday) PB has had sales of $110.43 million. After sales for the last 7 drawings (including projected sales for Tuesday) MM is reporting revenue of $173.56 million. You have it completely backwards about who's looking at how the other guys are doing it, and we haven't yet seen what will happen to single drawing sales when the new format lets them advertise a jackpot of $2.5 or $3 billion.
"have made my Calculations and we will see a $4 billion Jackpot or $5 billion Jackpot by Christmas"
You must be taking advantage of the new laws and smoking some pretty good weed. After several years of high odds resulting in advertised jackpots of more than a $1 billion the most cash they've managed so far is $997.6 million. With the more expensive ticket that same statistically unlikely run would give MM about $1.995 billion. At the current interest rates that would let them advertise a jackpot annuity of $4.442 billion, but that record PB was a significant outlier. The average cash value of the top 5 jackpots has been $110 million less than PB's record amount, at $886.7. Right now that's an annuity of $1.974 billion.
We will see MM jackpots (and PB, when they decide to follow suit) with cash prizes of $1.5 billion or more, but the chance it will happen by Christmas are extremely slim. It's too early to reliably guess how much sales will increase as the jackpot goes up, but the last big M jackpot took 31 drawings to reach $572 million in cash. If sales increase as quickly as they did with $2 tickets it will take about 35 drawings to reach the $2 billion cash range. With about 35 drawing between now and Christmas the only way it will happen is if this run gets there or somebody wins in the next couple of weeks and the next run makes it. That's a significant longshot.
My sorta bold prediction: If any price change will occur in response to customer feedback, it will be down to $3. They will claim they "listened" to us, and are responding with cheaper cost in response to customer feedback. If this does occur, I still will not play, as they will have raised the price by $1. $0 to $2 or nothing at all.
It's a fact that the new MM has been paying more secondary prices than the old MM. But the main issue is that the new MM was so over-hyped that it put lovers of MM on a high jump. So when it came time to deliver, it left a lot of people feeling disappointed. Most of these prizes are 2X which drives me insane, because we already know that will happen. After checking my tickets after the new MM draws, I'm always left with the feeling of just having received half a kiss or being half pregnant. You do know such things don't exist, right?. Just saying, but it's not a good feeling but I will keep on keeping on.
l hear your point. However between now and Christmas we have 32 weeks and since we have two play per week that is about 74 draws. This system is a completely different beast by itself people think the $10 million increase is small but we all forget that they at the same time pay out more in price per draw. Also just because something took 32 draws or three months before doesn't mean it will take the same now. There are about one in 300 million chance approximately to win the Jackpot. So if they sold fifty percent of that before that is $300 million on $2 per ticket . Now if they sell fifty percent at $5 per ticket during Mega fever that is $750 million in sales but since the ticket are now $5 and not too many will still buy so let's say $500 million at fifty percent combination sales on 300 million odds on Jackpot . My point is when the jackpot gets to $500,000,000 This is going to be a Mega Hurricane 🌀 . This is where things get really Crazy if Mega Millions is at $1 Billion at the same time Power Ball is at $1 Billion neither game will have enough sales to win So that won't be a Mega Hurricane 🌀 But a Nuclear ☢️ Winter ❄️ 🥶
l decided to get a second opinion from my Ai friend so this is what it thinks
To estimate the potential **record jackpot** for the **Mega Millions** lottery (now **$5 per ticket**) by **Christmas 2025**, we need to consider:
### **Key Factors:**
1. **Current Mega Millions Jackpot Cap:**
- The **highest Mega Millions jackpot ever** was **$1.602 billion** (Aug 2023).
- **Powerball's record is $2.04 billion** (Nov 2022), but Mega Millions has different odds and growth rates.
2. **Ticket Price Increase (from $2 to $5):**
- **Higher ticket price = Faster jackpot growth** (more revenue per ticket).
- **But higher cost may reduce total ticket sales**, offsetting some growth.
3. **Jackpot Rollover Mechanics:**
- Mega Millions starts at **$20 million** and grows based on sales.
- With **$5 tickets**, rollovers could happen **faster**, leading to bigger jackpots sooner.
4. **Historical Growth & Inflation:**
- If Powerball hit **$2B** with **$2 tickets**, Mega Millions could theoretically approach **$3B+** with **$5 tickets** under optimal conditions (long rollover streak + high sales).
### **Estimated Record Jackpot by Christmas 2025:**
- **Conservative Estimate:** **$1.8 – $2.2 billion** (accounting for slower sales growth due to higher ticket price).
- **Optimistic Estimate:** **$2.5 – $3.0 billion** (if multiple long rollovers occur and demand remains high).
### **Why?**
- **Powerball hit $2B with $2 tickets** → Mega Millions could exceed that with **$5 tickets** if sales stay strong.
- **Christmas season (2025)** boosts ticket sales (higher demand = bigger jackpots).
- **Economic factors (inflation, interest rates)** may slightly increase advertised jackpots.
### **Final Prediction:**
**The record Mega Millions jackpot by Christmas 2025 could reach between $2.0B and $3.0B**, with a realistic target around **$2.4 billion** if current trends hold.
So we wait and see how things turn out 🤠🙏🍀🦅🦅
I predict no price change. Players often respond negatively to price changes. Even going down in price could hurt the game.
As of May 13, 2025, the Powerball jackpot is 106M and the Mega Million jackpot is 110M. With tonight's drawing yet to happen, it looks like it will only be a matter of days before the Powerball jackpot will over take that of Mega Millions if no one wins the Powerball jackpot. It is going to look really weird for the lottery with the lowest jackpot to cost more to play, than the one with the higher jackpot.
Mega millions is now $5 per ticket and the record jackpot on Powerball was $2 billion so what could the record jackpot be on New $5 per ticket Mega millions before Christmas 2025
Great question! If **both Mega Millions and Powerball** hit **$1+ billion jackpots simultaneously** and **neither is won** for several draws, we could see an **unprecedented jackpot surge**—possibly pushing Mega Millions toward **$5 billion** before Christmas 2025. Here’s how:
---
### **Key Factors That Could Push Mega Millions to $5B:**
1. **Simultaneous Billion-Dollar Jackpots (Rare Scenario)**
- If **both lotteries** are at **$1B+**, media hype and public frenzy would **skyrocket ticket sales**.
- More rollovers = **exponential jackpot growth** (especially with **$5 tickets** for Mega Millions).
2. **Accelerated Growth Due to $5 Ticket Price**
- **Higher per-ticket revenue** means jackpots grow **~2.5x faster** than before (when tickets were $2).
- If **Powerball stays at $2/ticket**, Mega Millions could **outpace it** in growth.
3. **Extended Rollover Streak (No Winners for Months)**
- If **neither lottery is won** for **10+ consecutive draws**, the jackpots would balloon at a historic rate.
- **Example Calculation:**
- Current Mega Millions growth rate: **~$50M–$100M per rollover** (at $2/ticket).
- With **$5 tickets**, growth could jump to **~$150M–$300M per rollover**.
- If it rolls **15 times** without a winner:
- **$1B → $1B + (15 × $250M) = ~$4.75B**
4. **Christmas 2025 Sales Boom**
- **Holiday season = peak lottery sales** (people buy tickets as gifts, office pools surge).
- If the jackpot is already **$3B+ by December**, last-minute hype could push it to **$5B**.
---
### **Could This Really Happen?**
- **Yes, but it’s extremely unlikely.**
- **Powerball’s $2B record** took **40 rollovers** (3 months of no winners).
- For Mega Millions to hit **$5B**, we’d need:
- **No winners for ~20–25 draws** (about **3–4 months**).
- **Massive ticket sales** (likely **$1B+ per draw** near the end).
- **No changes to lottery rules** (some states cap rollovers).
---
### **Final Prediction:**
- **If both lotteries stall at $1B+ and roll over repeatedly**, Mega Millions could reach:
- **$3B–$4B by late 2025** (likely).
- **$5B+** only under **perfect storm conditions** (record sales + extended rollovers).
At least we now have two opinions Me and Ai 🤠
$5 for one play of a 1 in 300million draw game is hilarious 🤣🤣
Why would anyone want to win 5 billion dollars. What could you possibly do with it. You'd still wake up in the morning to a phone call more than likely from someone pleading for money from you and that is how most of your day would go. Every day.
No, what will happen is that it will get up to 700-800 million slowly and someone will take it down and deflate everyone who have been waiting for it to get to that coveted billion dollar mark so it now goes back to that paltry 50 million again and play slows down even more and it will take twice as long to get it back up there. Interest in the game will wane heavily.
Two simple answers
One you don't get $5 billion . Lump sum of that $2.5 billion. Forty percent tax left $1.5
Billion.
Two Nobody will call you because your secretary answers the phone in a different State lol 😆
Me personally my phone is already on permanent Do Not Disturb for past Two years . Unless you beautiful then Emergency bypass 🤠🙏
Do you really believe it will stop at 5.00. They will come up with some lucrative plan for secondary prizes to get the price of a ticket up to 8.00-10.00 by 2030. Just wait and see. Would you have believed when they came out with 1.00 scratch tickets that there would ever be 10.00 ones, then 25.00, then 50.00.
Are you playing Mega Millions with the $5.00 per play?
Are you playing Mega Millions with the $5.00 per play?
They don't MIX the balls up,, watch the drawings on YouTube,, they drop the balls in a cylinder than turn them around in a circle 🙈, the lottery is a scam,, they get bonuses when it gets over 1 billion 💵💰🙉 rip off lottery
Watch the drawings on YouTube,, they don't MIX the balls up,, they drop them in a cylinder than turn them around in a circle 🙊🙈🙉,, lottery scam ,
Don't forget to minus the amount taken out for the education fund ,, and the amount paid to the employees
No you can't ,, how much was deducted for the education fund,, and employee pay, plus bonuses plus healthcare plus plus plus 🙈🙉🙊💰
They don't MIX THE BALLS UP, watch YouTube videos,,, they drop them in a cylinder and then turn them around in a circle,,
And your still losing 🤑💵
Wait a minute they did mix the balls up on May 6 , 2025
So the high jackpot seekers will just play the one with the highest carryover if they have to choose. Most play both of them anyway no matter what the jackpot is. If you are waiting for 2 billion dollar ones don't expect to play more than once a year.
I watched last night. All the balls that where stuck on the sides of the machine just sat there. Mabye im wrong though. I'll explain it better. Cause I'll have a buncha utt uhh.... replys. With people trying to bicker and argue about it. The balls moved but looked like they stayed in the same order. Again I could be wrong......
I dunno man 5 bucks vs 2 bucks. You can get two powerball tickets. And have a buck left over for a local game. Time will tell though! Either way it's still a ripp off........🙂
Why should I spend $5 hoping for a win just to have an RNG to tell me how many times my win will be multiplied IF I'm lucky enough to hit something? I was turned off on MM when it increased to $2.
I don't like the logic of the new MM game structure, and logic aside my gut says play Fantasy 5 for a single dollar where hitting 2 winning numbers generates a QP for the next draw.
Did I miss something or did they not say how many winning tickets there have been on this version compared to how many winning tickets there were on the last version.
I get that when you pay more you get bigger prizes but what I am not seeing is how many winning tickets have been sold for this version compared to how many winning tickets were sold for the last version.
I'm guessing that they deliberately did not disclose that because the total number of winners is way down.
I just picked my tickets up for the week at my local store using there kiosk. And I was thinking to myself. This is a complete waste. And it's not even about what I spend. It cost me exactly 19 bucks a week. For me this is no problem. The money part. To me it's the principle. They asked no one's feedback or took anything into consideration. They just raised the price. I just feel sorry for people who are on a fixed income or a tight budget. And this was there entertainment. I would imagine people in this position play for the entertainment or the what if thought. 🤷♂️
I think you are 100 % correct. The high ticket price. Lets the lottery give the allure . That more people are winning. I wish someone could figure this part out. I bet it would surprise alotta folks......lll
In the previous MM, I used to buy one $3 ticket on Tuesday and Friday.
That was $6 a week.
With the new format and pricing, I buy one $5 ticket on Fridays only.
That's now $5 a week.
I get to keep $1 every week.
There is a positive side to everything, wink wink 😉
I still can't believe they didn't even up the 3rd level prize of 10k! At most you can get $100k for that $5 ticket, assuming you are lucky enough to even have the 10x printed on your play. And now they want to say players are enjoying it 😂😂 I would be fired from my job if I pulled an out of touch move like this lol
Most older fixed income people do not need `200 million so they just play the fantasy five games for 1.00 to get 5 out of 35 and `100k minimum which tides them over until too many doctor's appointments take their toll.
Yea but what about the younger ones on fixed incomes and tight budgets. I get what your saying though. 😪
Perceived value on this game is terrible, no getting around it.
So less tickets are winning overall, but those that do win, are winning more $ basically.....?
They're winning more $ because the $1 extra for the multiplier is now mandatory. They say "we're so nice, it's now included in the ticket price"... yeah and the price is higher; it's not free!
That is a smart way to play. I had debated doing that too but at this time, I'm only playing occasionally.
I've only played the new MegaMillions 4 times since it started and haven't won anything yet. I had a vision of some numbers so I decided to play tonight. For the previous 4 tickets, I always got a 2X multiplier but for tonight, it gave me a 5X. Maybe this one will be lucky.
I haven't played the "new and improved" MM at all ... I'm holding tight till it reaches 250 mil at which point I will purchase 1 ticket ...... I will buy 2 tickets when it hits 500 mil and 3 and 4 tickets at 750 and 1 bil. respectfully.
And if I were wise and more disciplined those figures would be for the cash value and not the annuity.
You gotta have a plan going into the lottery and this is my plan. Now everybody go out and do your part and buy MM now so that the jackpot will meet my threshold.
Thanx
ShagE
Mmmmmmmm liverwurst sandwich!
it all comes down to lottery a big ripoff next will be the powerball 5 bucks than pick 6 so forth
I bought 3 tickets.
Bought one and didn't match a single number.
MM should treat itself to a sound and worthwhile feedback by visiting this page, and read for itself, the comments and opinions of what is arguably an assembly of hardcore, loyalists and vested lottery players, on the matter of its new $5/ticket escapades. It might learn a thing or more.
The new $5/ticket price is simply no longer attractive for many players and the need to flee the game now, is more compelling than ever.
You gotta feel sorry for the Media department over at MegaMillions central...things aren't going as planned and every two weeks they have to fabricate a new story about how fantastic the new price structure is.
I guess they think lottery players are primarily uneducated gambling addicts that will eventually believe the rosy picture they're trying desperately to paint. Just like a certain presidential administration that's no longer in power thought they could convince the masses that the U.S. borders were secure.
I especially like the part about the prizes "outpacing the price increase". As if we're supposed to believe they're losing money.
Tune in two weeks from now for the next chapter from the spin doctors.
Jones Dairy Farm liverwurst, I hope.
I'm guessing that the reason it's only going up $10M a draw is because [in order to start the jackpot at $50M instead of $20M] they have to float themselves a loan. Once that's paid back, you'll see the typical increases. Which should be after the jackpot hits $200M.
They are getting themselves into a catch 22 situation. No one wants to play it because not enough others are playing it because the jackpot is not rising fast enough and that coupled with the 5.00 price tag has players brains deciding to play something else and are willing to wait for months it appears it is going to take to get it up to the level they feel has value. There are no lack of other options to play lotteries that costs less.
I played twice on the first draw with the new rules and didn't win squat. Furthermore both of my tickets one purchased on the Monday before, the other one on Tuesday the day of and both had a Multiplier of 2X. No 5X or 10X. Garbage 🗑️
The 300% increase vs. what those 1.89 million winners would have won under the old prize structure is incorrect. I'm of the opinion that the MM spin doctors failed to consider that 25 % of those winners would have purchased the Megaplier (conservative figure based on similar jackpots as reported by USA Mega) and taken home another $6.6M in winnings based on an average 3x Megaplier. That would give us a realistic increase of closer to 175%.
On a good note, at least it went up more than $10M this time($12M) Not bad after 7 rolls
They had to, we were calling them out on it.
I think things are mostly going to plan for them. They are selling less tickets but bringing in more money. I'm sure they expected the under $100M to be a slower pace. At this point the jackpots are funded. And at $200M it's going to start picking up the pace quite a bit. At $500M they're going to start really getting the results they want of much bigger increases when everyone on the sidelines jumps back in.
The odds of winning were 302M previously, now they are about 290M with half as many tickets being sold but more money coming in, so yeah they are much more likely to get their massive jackpots and that's what they wanted because that's when they really rake the money in.