The Mega Millions jackpot is estimated to exceed $1.28 billion in Friday night’s drawing. The cash value of $747.2 million, before taxes, would be the second-largest prize in the game’s history, according to Mega Millions.
The game’s largest jackpot was $1.537 billion in 2018, with the winning ticket sold in South Carolina. The next largest Mega Millions prize was $1.05 billion in 2021, with a winning ticket sold in Michigan.
The current jackpot is also the third-largest prize in US lottery history, behind a 2016 Powerball drawing that reached $1.586 billion, with winners in California, Florida and Tennessee.
The last Mega Millions drawing was on Tuesday, and the winning numbers were 7-29-60-63-66 with a Mega Ball of 15. Although no one won the big prize, nine tickets won at least 1 million of dollars, said Mega Millions.
The last time someone won the Mega Millions jackpot was on April 15th. And in recent weeks, as the prize became bigger and bigger, people across the United States rushed to buy tickets in hopes of claiming the prize.
Friday’s drawing will take place at 11:00 PM ET.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 303 million, while the odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24, according to Mega Millions.
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Sophie Reardon
Sophie Reardon is a news editor at CBS News. Contact her at sophie.reardon@viacomcbs.com