In California, the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket was sold, which will give about 1.2 billion dollars to the winner, whose identity is still unknown. The full amount of the prize will be awarded only if the winner chooses to collect with an annuity paid in almost three decades.
At least one Mega Millions lottery player will have plenty of money to ring in the New Year after matching the winning combination in Friday night's drawing.
After three months without anyone winning the jackpot, the winning ticket, valued at approximately $1.22 billion, was sold in California, according to the Mega Millions website.
The winner matched the white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and the gold Mega Ball 6. The identity of the winner or winners was not immediately known.
The full amount of the prize will be awarded only if the winner chooses to collect with an annuity paid over 29 years. Almost all jackpot winners opt for the cash payment, which for Friday's drawing was around $549.7 million.
Despite the slim odds of winning – 1 in 302.6 million – players continued to buy tickets as the jackpot increased.
As of Friday, the last time a Mega Millions player had matched the winning combination was September 10.
The ticket that won the largest prize ever awarded by Mega Millions, valued at $1.6 billion, was sold in Florida in August 2023. The Powerball lottery has distributed two higher jackpots.
Mega Millions and Powerball are sold in 45 states, as well as Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands. Powerball is also available in Puerto Rico.
Mega Millions ticket prices will increase from two to five dollars in April. The increase will be one of many changes that lottery officials say will result in higher chances of winning the jackpot, more frequent big prizes and even bigger payouts.