The new version of the game will feature bigger prizes at every non-jackpot prize tier, better odds to win the jackpot, better odds overall, larger starting jackpots, and faster-growing jackpots. The first drawing under the new prize structure will be held Tuesday, April 8, at 11 p.m. Eastern.
A full prize matrix is available here.
Other game enhancements benefitting players include:
- Improved overall odds – Overall odds to win any prize will improve to 1:23 from 1:24 due to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the game.
- Improved odds to win the jackpot – Odds to win the jackpot will improve to 1:290,472,336 from 1:302,575,350 due to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the game. The new game will feature 24 Mega Balls instead of the 25 in the current game.
- Larger starting jackpots – Following a jackpot win, the starting jackpot will reset to $50 million instead of the current variable amount, which has typically been $20 million.
- Faster-growing jackpots and bigger jackpots more frequently – Jackpots are expected to grow faster and get to higher dollar amounts more frequently in the new game. Mega Millions estimates that the average jackpot win in the new game will be more than $800 million vs. approximately $450 million in the current game.
- 2X-10X prize increase with built-in random multiplier – Every non-jackpot win will multiply its base prize by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X automatically. Non-jackpot prizes in the new game will range from $10 to $10 million vs. the $2 to $1 million in the current game.
- Win more than the cost to play – With a minimum prize of $10 on a winning ticket in the new game, every winning ticket will pay out at least double the $5 cost for each play. In the current game, the minimum prize on a winning ticket and cost to play are the same: $2.
With higher value prizes embedded throughout every tier of the game, tickets for the new Mega Millions game will increase to $5 per play. This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017.
As part of the new game introduction, the “Megaplier” add on feature that has been available for an additional $1 will be retired and replaced with the built-in multiplier.
Unless someone wins the jackpot on the April 4 drawing, the jackpot from the current game will roll into the new game and continue to grow with ticket sales from the new game. Players who have a winning ticket that was issued for a drawing prior to the game change will be paid based on the prize matrix in effect during the time of the drawing for their ticket, regardless of when the prize is claimed.
Since Mega Millions launched in 2002, it has produced seven winners of billion-dollar jackpots, all in different states. Since the last change in 2017 more than 1,200 players have become millionaires, an average of three millionaires per week.
The Mega Millions jackpot was last won in Michigan in January 2021 by an Oakland County lottery club. The club won a $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot. That jackpot was the largest ever won in Michigan.
Mega Millions is a national game with tickets sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia.