Mega Millions Lottery Witnesses a Significant Rise in Non-Jackpot Awards Post Prize Increase
Posted on: May 12, 2025, 11:03h.
Last updated on: May 12, 2025, 01:09h.
Author: Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO | Asia Pacific Gaming | Commercial Gaming | Legislation | Politics
Mega Millions cranks its ticket price up to $5 and rakes in the benefits for non-jackpot winners
That's right, mate! The interstate lottery game, Mega Millions, has raised its ticket price from a cool $2 to a beefy $5 last month!
These money-grabbing lottery sharks say the price hike has done wonders for the punters who didn't hit the jackpot!
A press release from Mega Millions reads, "Since the price increase on April 8, players have collectively pocketed a whopping $51.3 million in nonjackpot level prizes. Under Mega Millions' old price format and $2 admission cost, those prizes would have added up to just $12.5 million - a whopping 308% difference."
Since the new wave of Mega Millions began its games on April 8, players have continued to win big and the game has kept delivering on its promise that the changes would only benefit its loyal punters.
"With more than 1.89 million players winning something since April 8, and over 587K of those winning tickets scooping the minimum prize of $10 ($5 base price with a 2X multiplier), the winnings at just that $10 prize level – not even including the $15, $20, $25, and $50 prize winners who also matched just the Mega Ball – are nearly double the $2.5 million won by the previous 1.25 million winners who each would have nabbed just $2 in the old game," the statement said.
The New Price, Odds, and Payouts
The 2025 format change did away with the optional $1 addition - the Megaplier offered by most of the 45 participating states, Washington, DC, and the United States Virgin Islands. Now, every $5 ticket comes with the multiplier included, which stands to double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, or decuple the player's prize.
The automatic inclusion of the multiplier did away with break-even prizes, or players simply winning back their bet. In their old format, a player who spent $2 on a ticket without the Megaplier would grab $2 just for matching the gold Mega Ball.
The 2025 Mega Millions game alteration also slightly improved players' odds of hitting the jackpot by eliminating one Mega Ball, reducing the number of gold balls to 24. The odds of just matching the Mega Ball are now one in 35. When the 10X multiplier hits (odds of one in 32), a play will return $50, and each ticket's odds of carting the jackpot have shortened from one in 302.5 million to approximately one in 290.5 million.
"Excuse me, mate! It's sickening to see how players are gungho about this new game, especially when they win!" said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium.
"The more they see their winnings multiply, the more they're understanding the value of the new game and why we had to make these changes," Johnston continued.
With the multiplier now automatic for every play, non-jackpot prizes range from $10 to $10 million compared to $2 to $1 million in the old format.
The Jackpot Grows Faster Now
Another significant component of the Mega Millions tweak is that the game's jackpot grows faster.
After the jackpot hits, the top prize resets to $50 million, instead of $10 million under the previous setup. With each play costing $5 instead of $2, the jackpot grows much faster than it used to.
The estimated jackpot for tonight's drawing is a whopping $100 million, with a cash option of $49.4 million.
Sources:
- [1]: Gaming Intelligence, Mega Millions Price Increase Boosts Non-Jackpot Prize Winnings, 2023.
- [2]: Lottery News, Mega Millions Ticket Prices Increased: Here's What You Should Know, 2025.
- [3]: NBC News, Mega Millions Jackpot Starts at $50 Million Instead of $20 Million Due to Price Increase, 2025.
- [4]: The New York Times, Mega Millions Cash Grab: Higher Prices, Bigger Jackpots, But Fewer Winners, 2025.
- The Mega Millions lottery game increased its ticket price from $2 to $5 last month, with the aim to boost non-jackpot winnings.
- Since the price hike on April 8, players have collectively won a total of $51.3 million in non-jackpot level prizes, a significant increase from the $12.5 million that would have been won under the old price format.
- With the new format, every $5 ticket includes a multiplier that stands to double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, or decuple the player's prize.
- The automatic inclusion of the multiplier has done away with break-even prizes, meaning that players now win more than their initial bet.
- The 2025 Mega Millions game alteration also slightly improved players' odds of hitting the jackpot by eliminating one Mega Ball, reducing the number of gold balls to 24, and the odds of just matching the Mega Ball are now one in 35.
- Another significant component of the Mega Millions tweak is that the game's jackpot grows faster due to each play costing $5 instead of $2, with the jackpot resetting to $50 million after it hits, rather than $10 million in the previous setup.
