Mega Millions Jackpot Soars To Record $1.6 Billion After Friday’s Drawing

The Mega Millions jackpot is boldly going where no other lottery jackpot has gone before after no winning tickets emerged from Friday’s night’s drawing.

Game officials announced the new jackpot of $1.6 billion – an all-time lottery record – which has a cash option of $905 million. Since the next Mega Millions drawing is not until Tuesday, that amount is likely to soar even more.

No ticket Friday matched the winning number of 15, 23, 53, 65, 70 with the Mega Ball 7. That would have just given that winner just the second highest jackpot in lottery history. The new jackpot has now doubled Mega Millions’ old jackpot high of $656 million in 2012.

The $1.6 billion tote tops the all-time record, set by Powerball in 2016 when three tickets shared a $1.586 billion prize.

“Mega Millions has already entered historic territory, but it’s truly astounding to think that now the jackpot has reached an all-time world record,” Gordon Medenica, lead director of the Mega Millions Group and director of Maryland Lottery and Gaming said in a statement overnight.

“It’s hard to overstate how exciting this is – but now it’s really getting fun,” Medenica continued.

Fun may not be the same words used by those who purchased tickets in time for Friday drawing, learning that they will have to do it all over again if they want to win a shot at the new total.

The estimated Mega Millions tickets are sold for $2 in 44 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

With news of the Mega Millions total sucking all the oxygen out of the room, Powerball will quietly put up $470 million for its jackpot in Saturday’s drawing. Under normal circumstances, that jackpot – which ranks in the top 15 for all-time lottery jackpots – would be making all of the headlines.

The Powerball jackpot Saturday has a cash option estimated at $268 million. Powerball has already given away jackpots of more than $400 million twice this year.

On Jan. 6, the Good Karma Family Trust in New Hampshire walked away with a jackpot worth $559.7 million. On March 17, the Emerald Legacy Trust in Pennsylvania secured $456 million with a winning ticket.

Nandlall Mangal, of Staten Island, New York, was the last Powerball winning on Aug. 11, when he walked away with a jackpot of $245.6 million.

The Mega Millions has not had a winner since July 24 after 11 people who chipped into a California office pool shared $543 million, the largest prize ever from a Mega Millions single ticket.