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Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $560 million

There’s Mega excitement brewing for Mega Millions® as the jackpot surges past $550 million for just the seventh time in the game’s 21-year history.

After no ticket matched all six numbers in the July 11 drawing – the white balls 10, 17, 33, 51 and 64, plus the gold Mega Ball 5 – the estimated jackpot for the next drawing on Friday, July 14, is $560 million ($281.1 million cash).

The current roll began after the jackpot was last won in New York on April 18, and Friday’s drawing will be the 25th in this sequence.

While the jackpot remains elusive, there are plenty of winning tickets across all prize tiers. In the July 11 drawing alone, there were a total of 1,535,437 winning tickets at all prize levels. Three tickets matched the five white balls to win the standard second-tier prize of $1 million; they were sold in California, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Across the country, 59 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize. Fourteen of those tickets are worth $20,000 each, because they included the optional Megaplier (available in most states with an extra $1 purchase), which was 2X on Tuesday night. The other 45 third-tier winning tickets are worth $10,000 each.

Since the last jackpot was won on April 18, there have been a total of more than 14.2 million winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels, ranging from $2 up to $3 million. These include 19 second-tier prizes of $1 million or more, won in 14 different jurisdictions from coast to coast: California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

This year started out with six jackpot winners in less than four months – a number far more typical of a full year! The first was a big one – $1.348 billion won in Maine on January 13, the second-largest prize awarded in Mega Millions history. That was followed by three quick wins. The very next drawing, on January 17, produced a $20 million win in New York. Two drawings later, $33 million was won in Massachusetts on January 24, and just two drawings after that, Massachusetts repeated with another jackpot win, this time at $31 million. Then came two more wins in New York, at $483 million on April 14 followed by $20 million on April 18. That was the first time in Mega Millions history that two jackpots have been won in the same state in consecutive drawings.

Mega Millions is the only lottery game that has awarded four jackpots exceeding $1 billion – one each in 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 each; in most jurisdictions, players can add the Megaplier for an additional $1 to multiply their non-jackpot prizes. Drawings are conducted at 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays in Atlanta, Georgia.

Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold, where the money supports designated good causes and retailer commissions.

The top Mega Millions jackpots to date:

Amount Date Winning Tickets
$1.537 billion 10/23/2018 1-SC
$1.348 billion 1/13/2023 1-ME
$1.337 billion 7/29/2022 1-IL
$1.050 billion 1/22/2021 1-MI
$656 million 3/30/2012 3-IL, KS, MD
$648 million 12/17/2013 2-CA, GA
$560 million (est) 7/14/2023 ?
$543 million 7/24/2018 1-CA
$536 million 7/8/2016 1-IN
$533 million 3/30/2018 1-NJ

 

Jay Edwards

Born and raised in Northwest NJ, Jay has a degree in Communications and has had a life-long interest in local radio and various styles of music. Jay has held numerous jobs over the years such as stunt car driver, bartender, voice-over artist, traffic reporter (award winning), NY Yankee maintenance crewmember and peanut farm worker. His hobbies include mountain climbing, snowmobiling, cooking, performing stand-up comedy and he is an avid squirrel watcher. Jay has been a guest on America’s Morning Headquarters,program on The Weather Channel, and was interviewed by Sam Champion.

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