- Mega Millions is changing its rules. Starting April 8, it will double the size of its minimum jackpot, and says the average jackpot winner will win hundreds of millions of dollars more. The new tickets will see a price increase, though, jumping to $5 per play.
Get ready for longer lottery lines.
New rules that go into effect April 8 will double the minimum jackpot amount of the Mega Millions game to $50 million. The current minimum jackpot begins at $20 million.
Should that minimum jackpot not be won, the totals are expected to get even bigger than they have hit historically.
“Jackpots are expected to grow faster and get to higher dollar amounts more frequently in the new game,” the company said in a press release.
How big? Mega Millions estimates the average jackpot win in the new game will be in excess of $800 million, compared to $450 million today. In addition, non-jackpot winners could pocket more as non-jackpot wins will automatically multiply their base prize with a random multiplier that could increase it 10-fold.
Prizes in the new game will range from $10 to $10 million versus the $2 to $1 million in the current game.
“Beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that’s exactly what this new game delivers,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium. “Players who had won…$500 under the old rules will now take home $1,000; $1,500; $2,000; $2,500 or $5,000 in this new game.”
Overall odds of winning any prize will improve as well, the company said. Those currently stand at one in 24. With the changes, that drops to one in 23.
The last time Mega Millions changed its rules was in 2017. The company says in that time, over 1,200 players have become millionaires.
Higher payouts mean higher prices, though. The price of a Mega Millions tickets will jump from $2 to $5 per play.