AUSTIN – A frenzy of jackpot excitement continues into the weekend as the Mega Millions® jackpot has been increased to an estimated annuitized $940 million for the Friday, July 28 drawing. Tonight’s jackpot is the eighth largest in U.S. lottery history and ranks as the fifth largest in Mega Millions history. The jackpot prize offers a cash value worth an estimated $464.2 million. If there is no jackpot winner for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing, the jackpot prize for the Tuesday, Aug. 1 drawing will roll to an estimated annuitized $1.05 billion.
“With the Mega Millions jackpot getting closer to the billion-dollar mark, anticipation among Texas Lottery players is rising, as sales for the game in Texas have been booming for the past couple of weeks,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “The recent surge in sales is helping the Texas Lottery fulfill its mission of generating much needed revenue for public education in Texas. While we are keeping our fingers crossed that this massive jackpot prize will be won by a Texas Lottery player, we want to remind our players to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to win.”
Friday’s drawing will be the 29th in the current Mega Millions jackpot run since starting as an estimated annuitized $20 million for the April 21 drawing. This is the largest Mega Millions jackpot up for grabs since the Jan. 13 drawing when it reached an estimated annuitized $1.348 billion – the game’s second-largest jackpot prize, which was won by an out of state player.
Texas has had 13 Mega Millions jackpot prize winners since it joined the game in 2003. Its most recent winner came in September 2019 when a Leander resident won an estimated annuitized $227 million prize. The claimant chose the cash value option and received $157,091,592 before taxes; the largest prize ever paid out to a single Texas Lottery player.
Since the start of 2023, seven Texas Lottery players have won second-tier Mega Millions prizes of $1 million or larger, including four during the current jackpot run. Most recently, an Anna resident claimed a second-tier prize worth $4 million for the Tuesday, July 25 drawing. Before that, a Dallas resident claimed a $1 million second-tier prize for the June 30 drawing; the ticket was sold in Austin. Prior to that a Houston resident claimed a $3 million prize for the June 16 drawing and a Corpus Christi resident claimed a $1 million prize for the drawing held on May 9.
Mega Millions is played by choosing five numbers from a field of 70 and one Mega Ball number from the second field of 25 numbers. To win the Mega Millions jackpot, players must match all six numbers drawn including the Mega Ball. Players matching fewer numbers may not win the jackpot, but could still walk away winners. Mega Millions currently offers a $20 million starting jackpot and a second-tier (Match 5+0) prize of $1 million. By choosing the Megaplier® feature for $1 more per Play, players can multiply their non-jackpot winnings by two, three, four or five times, winning as much as $5 million.
Drawings are broadcast each Tuesday and Friday at 10:12 p.m. CT. Texas Lottery players can purchase Mega Millions tickets at more than 20,000 Texas Lottery retailers across the state. Ticket sales for the next Mega Millions drawing will close at 9:45 p.m. CT on Friday, July 28. The retailer that sells a jackpot-winning Mega Millions ticket may be eligible to receive up to a $1 million retailer bonus.
