All news

Mega Millions jackpot hits $627 million for tonight's drawing

Make sure you have your tickets!

The Mega Millions logo over a blue background.
Todd Betzold

Could August go out with a bang for one lucky Mega Millions player? It could, if someone wins tonight's huge $627 million jackpot.

The ninth-largest jackpot ever

After no tickets matched all six of the winning numbers drawn on Tuesday night — the white balls were 16, 18, 21, 54, and 65, and the Mega Ball was 5 — the estimated jackpot jumped up to $627 million ($309.1 million cash) for the Friday, August 30, drawing.

While the amount is definitely something to celebrate, it's also a time to celebrate the ninth time in Mega Millions history that the jackpot has surpassed $600 million since the game began in 2002.

Winning tickets keep rising, too

While no one has been able to cash in and win that jackpot, lottery officials did say that the number of winning tickets at all other prize levels have been increasing. For the August 27 drawing, there were a total of 1.2 million winning tickets.

Two of those winning tickets, both sold in South Carolina, matched all five of the white balls to win the game's second-tier prize. One of the tickets is worth $2 million, as the winner included the optional Megaplier, which was 2X on Tuesday night. The other winning ticket wins the standard $1 million second prize.

For the third-tier prize of $10,000, there were 30 tickets that matched all four white balls plus the Mega Ball. Of those tickets, ten of them are worth $20,000 each because they also included the Megaplier option. The other 20 will take home the standard $10,000 prize each.

Growing since June 4

The last Mega Millions jackpot win came on June 4 when an online player in Illinois won the $552 million jackpot that night. Since then, we have seen 24 drawings in this current jackpot run.

During those 24 drawings, there have been more than 16 million winning tickets across all non-jackpot prize tiers. Those winning tickets include 47 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, which have been won in 22 different jurisdictions from coast to coast, including Arizona, California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

In 2024, we have seen only two Mega Millions jackpots being won. Of course, the $552 million jackpot in June to the Illinois player and then the $1.13 billion jackpot, which was won by a player in New Jersey in March.

Six jackpots greater than $1 billion

Did you know that Mega Millions is the only lottery game that has produced six jackpots that have been greater than $1 billion?

It's true, and it just so happens that each of those jackpots was won in different states, so we are sharing the love. Those jackpots were won in South Carolina in 2018, Michigan in 2021, Illinois in 2022, Maine in 2023, Florida in 2023, and New Jersey in March 2024.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot ever goes to the Florida winner in 2023, which won the $1.6 billion jackpot.

Drawings for Mega Millions take place at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesdays and Fridays. The odds of winning any Mega Millions prize is 1 in 24. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302.58 million.

Enjoy playing the lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.

Comments

0
Loading comments

Related articles

Why some lottery winners keep their jackpot a secret — even from family
Why some lottery winners keep their jackpot a secret — even from family

The thrill of winning millions comes with an unexpected challenge — deciding who should know about it.

Todd Betzold profile pic

Todd Betzold

Thomas Ensko of Blackstone, Massachusetts, winner of a $1 million Mega Millions prize.
Cookies, dreams, and gut feelings: The wildest winning lottery strategies

How dreams, cookies, and license plates helped these lottery players win big prizes.

Alex Cramer profile pic

Alex Cramer

A screen displaying investment graphs.
The $50 billion gamble. Inside America's tech-driven lottery boom

While luck can't be predicted, America's $50B lottery industry is betting that artificial intelligence can.

Samantha Herscher profile pic

Samantha Herscher

The Texas Lotto logo over a sky blue background with confetti.
Texas-sized dreams: Lotto jackpot climbs to historic $83.25 million

What started as a $5 million prize in June has grown to become one of Texas' largest-ever lottery jackpots.

Samantha Herscher profile pic

Samantha Herscher

Recent articles

View All
A New York Lottery sign at a local retailer.
Inside New York Lottery's billion-dollar education funding machine

Since 2017, Gweneth Dean has built a resilient NY Lottery in a crowded landscape.

Samantha Herscher profile pic

Samantha Herscher

The Georgia Lottery and Georgia Cash 4 logos, along with the numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8 with a sky blue background.
2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate? Georgia Cash 4 players winning $1.33M

Plenty of Georgia lottery players saw their numbers line up just right, cashing in big on a perfectly even Cash 4 draw.

Todd Betzold profile pic

Todd Betzold

The Caldwell County Jail in Princeton, Kentucky.
Store employee accused of stealing lottery tickets while working

A store audit raised the alarm, and video evidence helped police and state lottery officials connect the dots.

Todd Betzold profile pic

Todd Betzold

The South Dakota State Capitol.
South Dakota lawmakers vote to increase lottery age

A proposal to raise the lottery age to 21 moves forward, and businesses may get more video lottery machines.

Todd Betzold profile pic

Todd Betzold