New Mega Millions® game delivers 300% increase in non-jackpot prizes in first month since launch
Since April 8 drawing, nationally, 1.8 million players won $51.3 million vs. $12.5 million under the old game matrix, bringing mega value with new 2X-10X multiplier
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Since the new version of Mega Millions® held its first drawing on April 8, players have continued to win big and the game has continued to deliver on its expectations that the game enhancements would benefit players. In the nine Mega Millions drawings over the course of the first month since launch:
National Numbers
- 1.89 million players won $51.3 million in non-jackpot prizes. That’s a 308% increase from the $12.5 million those prizes would have been valued at in the old game.
- $18.8 million in prizes have been won by players matching ONLY the Mega Ball. That’s more money awarded for the ninth prize tier alone in the new game than the $12.5 million that would have been awarded across ALL non-jackpot prize tiers in the old game matrix.
- More than 587,000 players have won the minimum prize for a winning ticket, $10 ($5 base prize with 2X multiplier), collecting $5.87 million in prizes. The winnings at just that $10 prize level – not including the 3X ($15), 4X ($20), 5X ($25) and 10X ($50) prize winners who also matched just the Mega Ball – are more than double the $2.5 million that would have been won by ALL the 1.25 million winners who each would have won just $2 in the old game.
- Nearly 60,000 winners at the 10X multiplier level have won more than $3.8 million across the various prize tiers. The 10X multiplier level was introduced with the new Mega Millions on April 8. In the previous version of the game, players could pay $1 extra to add a non-jackpot multiplier to their play that maxed out at 5X.
- 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.
- Five people have become millionaires by matching the five white balls during a drawing. Three of them won $2 million, one won $3 million and another won $4 million. Winners bought tickets in Michigan, New York (2), Virginia and Washington.
- The first jackpot under the new matrix was won just four drawings into the new game. On April 18, a $112 million jackpot was won on a ticket sold in Ohio. Under the new game rules, the jackpot was reset to $50 million and is already up to $100 million again for the Friday, May 9, drawing.
“The new Mega Millions game with the built-in multiplier offers the opportunity to play for more and bigger prizes, and large jackpots that will grow faster,” D.C. Lottery Executive Director Randy Burnside said. “Our players now have more options than ever before to play for life-changing multi-state jackpots at various price points with the new and improved $5 Mega Millions, and the $2 Powerball game.”
With higher value prizes embedded throughout every tier of the game, tickets for the new Mega Millions game now cost $5 per play. This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago.
Since Mega Millions launched in 2002, it has produced seven winners of billion-dollar jackpots, all in different states. Since the last game change in 2017 more than 1,200 players have become millionaires, an average of three millionaires per week.
Mega Millions is a national game with tickets sold in Washington, D.C., 45 states, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Since its inception in 1982, the DC Lottery has awarded more than $4.8 billion in prizes, transferred more than $2.4 billion to the District’s General Fund, which supports essential services in the District, and has helped local nonprofits raise more than $139.5 million in support of social causes. To learn more, visit dclottery.com.