Mega Millions ticket price to rise to $5

OLYMPIA, Wash. (WISH) — Mega Millions on Monday announced its price for a chance at millions will increase to $5 from $2 in April as part of an overhaul of its lottery game.

A news release issued Monday said, “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.”

The game operators say the changes will allow for improved odds to win, bigger jackpots more frequently, larger starting jackpots, and faster-growing jackpots. The game also will add a built-in multiplier.

In the game, players pick or are automatically assigned five numbers from 1 to 70, and one additional number, the Mega Ball, from 1 to 25. Winning numbers are drawn twice a week, at 11 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays.

Current odds to win the jackpot are 1 in 302 million.

Tickets for the game are sold in Indiana, 44 other states and the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. The game isn’t played in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

Statement

“We are creating a game that both our existing players and people new to Mega Millions will love and get excited about playing. We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played.”

Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium