‘Lottery Fever’ Swells Mega Millions Jackpot to $1.1B, Powerball to $750M

Posted on: March 23, 2024, 09:56h. 

Last updated on: March 25, 2024, 11:27h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

No Mega Millions ticket on Friday night matched the six drawn numbers. It marked the 30th consecutive drawing without a jackpot winner.

Mega Millions jackpot Powerball lottery
The Mega Millions jackpot for the lottery game’s next drawing on Tuesday, March 26, is an estimated $1.1 billion. The jackpot hasn’t been won since Dec. 8, 2023. (Image: AP)

For only the sixth time in Mega Millions’ 22-year history, the estimated annuitized jackpot for the game’s next drawing on Tuesday, March 26, is upwards of $1 billion. Lottery officials with the Mega Millions Consortium, which conducts the drawings at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesdays and Fridays at the WSB-TV studios in Atlanta, are forecasting Tuesday’s jackpot to be around $1.1 billion.

Lottery fever continues to spread throughout the country,” said Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin, who is the lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. The Georgia Lottery oversees each Mega Millions draw.

The $1.1 billion jackpot ranks fifth all-time among Mega Millions jackpots. The richest came last August, when a player in Florida won a $1.602 billion jackpot.

Top Mega Millions Jackpots — Winner

  1. $1.602B — August 2023 — Florida
  2. $1.537B — October 2018 — South Carolina
  3. $1.348B — January 2023 — Maine
  4. $1.337B — July 2022 — Illinois
  5. $1.100B — March 2024 — ?

Lottery Drought

The Mega Millions jackpot hasn’t been hit since Dec. 8, when two tickets sold in California split a $395 million prize. Powerball players have been equally unlucky in winning the jackpot.   

The Powerball jackpot has been hit just once this year. The stroke of luck came early in the year, as a player in Michigan won an $842.4 million prize during the Jan. 2 drawing.

Powerball is drawn three times a week and its jackpot has slightly better odds at one in 292.2 million. Hitting the Mega Millions top prize is one in 302.5 million.

Powerball will be drawn tonight at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee. Saturday’s drawing will be the 35th drawing in the jackpot run.

At $750 million, tonight’s jackpot offering is the ninth-largest in the game’s 31-year history.

Top Powerball Jackpots — Winner(s)

  1. $2.04B — November 2022 — California
  2. $1.765B — October 2023 — California
  3. $1.586B — January 2016 — California, Florida, Tennessee
  4. $1.08B — July 2023 — California
  5. $842.4M — January 2024 — Michigan
  6. $768.4M — March 2019 — Wisconsin
  7. $758.7M — August 2017 — Massachusetts
  8. $754.6M — February 2023 — Washington
  9. $750M — March 2024 — ?

Play Responsibly

Lottery officials say massive jackpots increase interest and media coverage, which results in higher ticket sales and delivers richer benefits for participating lotteries. Mega Millions and Powerball reps, however, encourage the public to play responsibly.  

Large jackpots provide entertainment and winnings for our players nationwide while contributing to the beneficiary programs funded by each lottery. We appreciate our players and dedicated retailers, and we encourage everyone to play responsibly,” Corbin said.

Players should also be on the lookout for scams, as heightened jackpots bring out swindlers who use an array of deceitful tactics to gain personal information.

Mega Millions said earlier this month that lotteries never require a person to supply their banking account information before receiving their prize. Lotteries also do not reach out to winners via social media or send emails saying a winner must first pay taxes on their financial windfall before receiving the payout.