Mega Millions makeover: Will California play ball?

Dreaming of a bigger jackpot in Mega Millions? California Lottery players may soon see some exciting changes that could make chasing the dream even more appealing.

On Thursday, January 23, 2025, the California Lottery Commission is set to vote on a proposal that would revamp the popular multi-state draw game, promising better odds, bigger starting jackpots, and brand-new multipliers to boost payouts. But these enticing updates come with a catch — players might need to dig a little deeper into their pockets to join the fun.

Changes to the Mega Millions game

It was announced in October 2024 that the Mega Millions draw game was getting an upgrade. These upgrades take effect in April 2025, and they include:

• Better odds: The current odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302 million, but they will go to 1 in 290 million with these changes.
• Bigger jackpots: The starting jackpot is increasing from $20 million to $50 million, so players should expect bigger jackpots to happen more frequently.
• Multiplier for everyone: Currently, Mega Millions players have to add on the Megaplier option. With these updates, every play will automatically increase your non-jackpot winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x, up to $10 million.
• No breakeven prizes: If you win on your ticket, you will be winning some kind of money. There are no more small prizes that just cover the cost of the ticket.
• Ticket prices will go up: With all of these changes, there will be an increase in the price of the tickets from $2 currently to the new price of $5 in April. This is only the second price adjustment for Mega Millions in over 20 years. The previous price increase was from $1 to $2 in 2017.

Again, these changes will roll out in April 2025, but some states are already preparing for the changes and limiting the number of drawings you can purchase using the multi-draw option to not go over when these changes take place.

California weighs in

With Mega Millions officials announcing these new game rules, the California Lottery Commission now gets to voice their opinion on the changes. The commission is set to vote today and approve these changes for California players.

Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California Lottery, told CBS13 that "these changes are being driven at a national level because this is a multi-state game."

What does that mean? There is a commission that oversees the Mega Millions game. They made these changes official for all the states and territories that participated. The California Lottery Commission is voting to approve these changes as a bureaucratic step in the process and make it official in the state.

Better odds, bigger prizes

While the ticket prices will be going up to $5, players should expect better odds and bigger prizes. Becker said, "That starting jackpot will actually start at $50 million, so right from the jump, there will be better odds at winning more money."

As far as the better odds go, players currently pick one of 25 possible Mega Ball numbers. With these changes, that will be reduced to one of 24 numbers — increasing the chance of winning the jackpot.

Becker told CBS13, "It's really just math behind the scenes in terms of the number of possible combinations."

With the Megaplier being added automatically into the ticket price moving forward, this will also help bring those bigger prizes.

"At the very least, your prizes automatically double," Becker said. "In some cases, though, tickets will have a 10x multiplier, and that prize will go up tenfold."

How will the price change affect California?

Time will tell how these changes will affect the numbers in California. The state has seen a big drop in annual revenue from Mega Millions, with sales falling by $110 million in 2024.

Even with this decline in sales, the state did happen to win a huge Mega Millions jackpot in 2024. One lucky player in Cottonwood matched all the winning numbers during the December 27, 2024, drawing to win the $1.27 billion jackpot.

With this price increase, lottery officials said that $2 from each ticket sold will go toward education in California. While the Mega Millions ticket prices will be increasing, the price of Powerball tickets will remain the same at $2 per play.

Enjoy playing the California Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.