Posted on 2020-03-12 by The Lotto Pro Staff
The Mega Millions lottery began on August 31, 1996 as the Big Game. The first drawing took place on September 6, 1996, with six states participating: Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia.
In May 2002, the multi-state game was given the new name of "Mega Millions," New York and Ohio became member states, and the game matrix and prize amounts were changed to offer players more excitement.
In September 2002, Washington became the 10th member state, followed by Texas in December 2003. In June 2005, California became the 12th member, solidifying Mega Millions as the country's most widely played multistate jackpot game.
On January 31, 2010, 23 more state lotteries joined Mega Millions as a historic cross-selling agreement between Mega Millions and Powerball went into effect. With additional lotteries joining since then, Mega Millions is now played in 47 jurisdictions: 45 states plus the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
On March 30, 2012, Mega Millions made history with the world’s largest prize in any jackpot game to that date: $656 million. The jackpot was split three ways, by winning tickets in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland. That lottery industry record stood for almost four years until it was eclipsed by a $1.586 billion Powerball jackpot in January 2016; Mega Millions joined the billion-dollar club on October 23, 2018.
The most recent Mega Million jackpot was on February 11, 2020 - $202 million ($142.6 million cash) won in New Jersey; ticket sold in Edison, N.J.
Under the current version's regulations (which began October 28, 2017 with the first drawing October 31) for Mega Millions, the minimum Mega Millions advertised jackpot is $40 million, paid in 30 graduated yearly installments, increasing 5 percent each year (unless the cash option is chosen)The jackpot increases when there is no top-prize winner.
Reflecting common practice among American lotteries, the jackpot is advertised as a nominal value of annual installments. A cash value option (the usual choice), when chosen by a jackpot winner, pays the approximate present value of the installments. Mega Millions' previous format began on October 19, 2013; its first drawing was three days later. The current version of Mega Millions requires players to match 5 of 70 white balls, and the gold-colored "MegaBall" from a second field, of 25 numbers ( 5/70 / 1/25 ).
Each game costs $2. Of the 47 Mega Millions jurisdictions, all but California offer an option, called Megaplier (plays with the Megaplier are $3 each) where non-jackpot prizes are multiplied by 2, 3, 4, or 5. The Megaplier was made available to all Mega Millions jurisdictions in January 2011; it began as an option available only in Texas. Several of the game's members offer the Just the Jackpot option, in which two plays cost $3. Only the jackpot can be won; none of the lower-tier prizes are available on such a wager.
Mega Millions became the first jackpot game to offer second-tier prizes of up to $5 million when it relaunched with a new matrix on October 19, 2013. In just over four years with a 5-of-75 plus 1-of-15 matrix, there were 571 Match 5 winners, including 65 that were worth more than the $1 million base prize by including the optional Megaplier. Twenty-eight of those were $5 million winning tickets.
To accommodate public demand for more frequent large jackpots and bigger lower-tier prizes, Mega Millions introduced a new matrix on October 28, 2017, with a $2 ticket price and a $40 million starting jackpot. Not only will jackpots roll faster and higher, but the change in the prize structure means that players now have a much better chance than ever before of winning the second-tier prize of $1 million (or up to $5 million with the optional Megaplier).
With the 2017 relaunch, Mega Millions introduced an innovative Just the Jackpot play option. Available in many states, this industry-first option allows players to purchase two chances to win the jackpot for just $3.00. These Just the Jackpot tickets are not eligible for any other prize levels.