25 Facts About Mega Millions

Mega Millions is an American multi-jurisdictional lottery game; as of January 30,2020, it is offered in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands.

Mega Millions is drawn at 11 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday and Friday evenings, including holidays.

Mega Millions is administered by a consortium of its 12 original lotteries; the drawings are held at the studios of WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, supervised by the Georgia Lottery.

The current version of Mega Millions requires players to match 5 of 70 white balls, and the gold-colored "MegaBall" from a second field, of 25 numbers.

Ohio and New York joined The Big Game consortium on May 15,2002, when the game was renamed The Big Game Mega Millions, temporarily retaining the old name and the original "gold ball" logo.

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The first three lotteries to join Mega Millions were Washington, Texas, and California ; California was the last addition to Mega Millions before the cross-sell expansion of 2010.

On March 6,2007, the Mega Millions jackpot reached $390 million, which was then the record for the third largest jackpot in US history.

On January 31,2010, Mega Millions expanded to include the 23 MUSL members; as of that date, 35 jurisdictions were participating in Mega Millions.

Nebraska became the 37th Mega Millions participating member on March 20,2010, followed by Oregon as the 38th member on March 28, Arizona as the 39th member on April 18, and Maine as 40th Mega Millions participant on May 9,2010.

Recent additions to Mega Millions included the US Virgin Islands, in October 2010, and Louisiana in November 2011.

Mega Millions tickets bought with the Megaplier option, beginning September 12,2010, automatically won $1 million if the five white balls – but excluding the Mega Ball – are matched.

On October 28,2017, the price of a Mega Millions play doubled, to $2; the first drawing under the current price point was October 31,2017.

In preparation for the October 28,2017 format change the then-46 Mega Millions members were given the choice of offering a $3, two-game play.

The record Mega Millions jackpot was claimed on March 5,2019, with the winner choosing to remain anonymous under South Carolina law.

Third-largest Mega Millions jackpot advertised as $640 million at the time of the drawing or $462 million, was drawn on March 30,2012.

Mega Millions players have the option to activate a multiplier, called Megaplier, in 46 of its 47 jurisdictions; it is functionally similar to Powerball's Power Play; except the latter limits the second-prize multiplier to 2x.

Each of the 46 lotteries have rules in regards to unclaimed prizes; most Mega Millions members set aside unclaimed winnings for educational purposes.

Mega Millions winners have either 180 days or one year to claim prizes, including the jackpot.

Minimum age to purchase a Mega Millions ticket is 18, except in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and Mississippi, where the minimum is 21; and in Nebraska, where it is 19.

Mega Millions winnings are exempt from state income tax in California; while Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, and Wyoming do not have an income tax.

The model used for Mega Millions is the Criterion II, manufactured by Smartplay International of Edgewater Park, New Jersey.

Mega Millions then filed a lawsuit against the woman who had come forward with the ticket, Rebecca Jemison.

January 4,2011 Mega Millions drawing drew attention for its similarity to "The Numbers, " a sequence of six numbers that served as a plot device of the ABC drama series Lost.

The first three numbers and mega ball in the Mega Millions drawing matched the first three numbers and the final number in the Lost sequence.

The last two numbers in the Mega Millions drawing did not match the last two numbers that were used in the scene.

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