Mega Millions Hits 28 Years, But Doesn’t Celebrate With Jackpot

September 07, 2024

The gold Mega Ball was 25, while the winning numbers for Mega Millions last night were 6, 23, 41, 59, and 63. There was no jackpot hit by your ticket.

There were no jackpot winners in Friday, September 6's Mega Millions drawing. It was the 27th drawing in the history of the game in which no ticket matched the six winning numbers.

With a $401.8 million one-time cash option, the projected jackpot for Tuesday, September 10, is now $800 million. Since Mega Millions began in 1996, the jackpot has increased to become the seventh-richest in the game's history.

Only seven Mega Millions jackpots above ten figures have been won, and Tuesday's $800 million payout comes in second place. The jackpot, valued at $800 million, is the 13th highest in American history.

Top Mega Millions Jackpots

• $1.602B — 8/8/2023 — 1-FL
• $1.537B — 10/23/2018 — 1-SC
• $1.348B — 1/13/2023 — 1-ME
• $1.337B — 7/29/2022 — 1-IL
• $1.128B — 3/26/2024 — 1-NJ
• $1.05B — 1/22/2021 — 1-MI
• $800M — 9/10/2024 — ?
• $656M — 3/30/2012 — 3-IL, KS, MD
• $648M — 12/17/2013 — 2-CA, GA
• $552M — 6/4/2024 — 1-IL

Highlights of Friday Night

Even though the jackpot eluded players on Friday, six tickets matched all five white balls but not the gold Mega Ball to win the $1 million second-tier prize in Mega Millions. So, the night wasn't entirely lost. After the Megaplier landed on 2x, one of those gameplays paid the optional $1 add-on Megaplier, which doubled their win to $2 million.

To win $10,000, 49 tickets have to match the gold Mega Ball with four white balls. The Megaplier on ten of those plays doubled the winnings to $20,000. Over 1,000 tickets, including 223 with the Megaplier, struck four of the five white balls for $500 in prizes.

During the Friday drawing, 1,699,484 tickets were successful in winning a reward. A little over 1.12 million of those tickets won their $2 wager back when they matched the Mega Ball. 

Anniversary of Mega Millions

Mega Millions celebrated its 28th anniversary on Friday night. Even though the game was initially selected on Friday, September 6, 1996, under the name The Big Game, the interstate lottery has continued to operate continuously ever since.

Twenty-eight years ago, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Virginia were the six original participating lotteries. The six original participating lotteries are represented by the gold Mega Ball with six stars in the Mega Millions logo. These days, 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands all play Mega Millions.

In addition to changing its name from The Big Game Mega Millions in 2002 to Mega Millions in 2003, Mega Millions has changed its gameplay over the years to make it harder to win the jackpot. Officials with the lottery claim that stories about jackpots are profitable because they encourage more infrequent players to play because the awards increase dramatically.

The most recent changes to the game were made in October 2017, when the play fee was quadrupled to $2 and there were 25 Mega Balls instead of 15. There were only 70 white balls instead of 75, which gave some people hope that winning the jackpot would be simpler.

On the other hand, the odds of winning the jackpot increased from one in 258.89 million to one in 302.57 million.