Sunshine State strikes again: $800M Mega Millions jackpot claimed

Florida just did it again. Is there a state with a stronger claim to Mega Millions luck?

A single ticket sold in Florida matched every number in the July 28 drawing to win an estimated $800 million jackpot ($344.2 million cash). The winning numbers: white balls 34, 48, 49, 59, and 70, plus the gold Mega Ball 12.

This is the third Mega Millions jackpot win of 2026. It's also the tenth-largest jackpot in the game's history.

Florida's Mega Millions history

Florida already holds the record for the largest Mega Millions jackpot ever: $1.602 billion, won almost exactly three years ago, on August 8, 2023.

The state joined Mega Millions in 2013. Since then, it has won or shared six jackpots. No other state has come close to matching that run of luck this decade.

What happened between wins

The jackpot had been climbing since March 17, when a player in Ohio won $60 million. Over the 38 drawings since then, players bought nearly 10.9 million winning tickets. Total non-jackpot prizes topped $273 million.

Eighteen of those tickets won second-tier prizes, ranging from $2 million to $5 million. Winners came from 10 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Another 263 tickets won third-tier prizes between $20,000 and $100,000. Those winners spanned 38 states, from Arizona to Wisconsin.

Inside the July 28 drawing

The July 28 drawing produced 645,993 winning tickets across every prize level, plus the one jackpot winner.

Two tickets matched all five white balls for the second-tier prize. A New York ticket with the 3X multiplier is worth $3 million. An Illinois ticket with the 5X multiplier is worth $5 million.

Fifteen tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball for the third-tier prize:

• Seven tickets worth $20,000: two in Florida, one each in California, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin.
• Five tickets worth $30,000: Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Washington.
• Two tickets worth $40,000: New York and Wisconsin.
• One ticket worth $50,000: New Jersey.

Note: Prize amounts in California vary. They're calculated on a pari-mutuel basis.

Where things stand for 2026

Florida's win brings the year's jackpot count to three. The others: a $60 million prize in Ohio on March 17, and a $536 million jackpot in Illinois on March 10.

The jackpot resets to its starting value of $50 million ($21.5 million cash) for the next drawing on Friday, July 31.