NEW MEGA MILLIONS® WITH BIGGER PRIZES ARRIVES IN TEXAS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW MEGA MILLIONS® WITH BIGGER PRIZES ARRIVES IN TEXAS
Refreshed game to feature multiplied prizes, better overall odds, higher starting jackpot and more.
Sales for new version begin Saturday, April 5; First drawing set
for Tuesday, April 8
AUSTIN — Lottery players in the Lone Star State will soon experience a new version of Mega Millions®, the national jackpot game that has seen more than 200 prizes of $1 million or more won by Texas Lottery® players since the state joined the game. The new version of the game will feature bigger prizes at every non-jackpot prize tier, better odds to win the jackpot, better overall odds and larger starting jackpots. Friday, April 4, will mark the final drawing for the current version of the game. After that, sales for the updated game will begin on Saturday, April 5, with the first drawing under the new prize structure taking place on Tuesday, April 8.
“With a revamped Mega Millions game, Texas Lottery players will soon have the chance to win bigger prizes thanks to the game’s new built-in Multiplier,” said Ryan Mindell, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “Every Play purchased for the new game will include its own Multiplier, providing the chance for all non-Jackpot prizes to be multiplied by 2, 3, 4, 5 or even 10 times. We believe this enhancement will be popular among our players, as it will create larger payouts at all lower prize levels. We look forward to the updates, which aim to provide greater value to our players, while supporting our mission to generate important revenue for public education in Texas.”
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.
The new prize chart is available here. Other game enhancements benefitting players include:
- 2X-10X prize increase with built-in random multiplier – As part of the new game introduction, the Megaplier® add on feature that has been available for an additional $1 per Play will be retired and replaced with a built-in Multiplier. The “Just the Jackpot” feature will also be retired. In the new version, every non-Jackpot prize will multiply its base prize by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X automatically. Prizes in the new game will range from $10 to $10 million vs. the $2 to $1 million in the current base game. For example, players who win a $2 prize in the current version of the game will now take home anywhere from $10 to $50, while those that win $500 in the present game will now have a chance to win between $1,000 and $5,000.
- Improved overall odds – Overall odds to win any prize will improve to 1:23.07 from 1:24 due to the removal of one gold Mega Ball from the game, which will now feature 24 Mega Balls instead of the 25 in the current 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.
- Larger starting jackpots – Following a jackpot win, the starting jackpot will reset to $50 million instead of the current $20 million.
- More frequent bigger jackpots – Per the Mega Millions Consortium estimates, jackpots are expected to reach higher dollar amounts more frequently in the new game.
- Win more than the cost to play – With a minimum prize of $10 on a winning ticket, the new game eliminates the $2 break-even prize from the current version, as every winning ticket will pay out at least double the $5 cost for each play.
A comparison between the current game and the new version of the game can be found here.
Unless someone wins the jackpot on the April 4, 2025 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 and who claim their prize by the 180-day deadline from the draw date 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, the game has produced seven winners of billion-dollar jackpots, all in different states. The Texas Lottery has been part of the game since 2003, selling 202 winning Mega Millions tickets worth $1 million or more, including 15 jackpot winners, with the most recent occurring in 2024. The Sol Living Trust, of Sugar Land, Texas, claimed an estimated annuitized $800 million jackpot prize advertised for the Sept. 10, 2024 Mega Millions drawing. That prize remains the largest ever won by a Texas Lottery player and currently ranks as the eighth largest in Mega Millions history. The claimant selected the cash value option at the time of purchase and received $409,297,624 before taxes – the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.
Mega Millions is a multijurisdictional game with tickets sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are conducted on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia and are broadcast at 10:12 p.m. CT at texaslottery.com. Texas Lottery players can purchase Mega Millions tickets at more than 19,000 Texas Lottery retailers across the state. In Texas, ticket sales for Mega Millions drawings close at 9:45 p.m. CT on draw nights. Texas Lottery retailers that sell a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket may be eligible to receive up to a $1 million retailer bonus.
About the Texas Lottery
Beginning with the first ticket sold in 1992, the Texas Lottery has generated more than $40 billion in revenue for the state and distributed more than $91 billion in prizes to lottery players. Since 1997, the Texas Lottery has contributed $34.57 billion to the Foundation School Fund, which supports public education in Texas. As authorized by the Texas Legislature, certain Texas Lottery revenues benefit state programs including the Fund for Veterans’ Assistance. Since the first veterans’ themed scratch ticket game was launched in 2009, the Texas Lottery has contributed more than $265 million for programs supporting Texas veterans.
The Texas Lottery provides several entertaining games for lottery players including Powerball®, Mega Millions®, Lotto Texas®, All or Nothing™, Texas Two Step®, Pick 3™, Daily 4™, Cash Five® and scratch ticket games. For more information visit us on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube or at texaslottery.com. Must be 18 or older to purchase a ticket or enter a promotional second-chance drawing. PLAY RESPONSIBLY.
Editors/News Directors, note: The Mega Millions logo has changed. Please download the high-res image of the new logo here and use this version for all Mega Millions coverage moving forward. For outlets that feature the logo on air with draw results, please share this notice with your creative department. Additionally, an image of the new Mega Millions prize chart can be downloaded here and a new Mega Millions How-To-Play video can be viewed here. (Right-click on the images for saving options.)
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