Mega Millions 5/70

About the game

About Mega Millions 5/70

Mega Millions started on 31 August 1996 as "The Big Game" in six US states and took its current name in May 2002. It is now played in 45 states, Washington DC and the US Virgin Islands. The member lotteries run it together, with no central office. Draws take place on Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. Eastern Time in the WSB-TV studio in Atlanta. The drawing machines and ball sets are selected at random and certified by outside auditors.

The current format has applied since 8 April 2025: 5 numbers from 70 and a gold Mega Ball from 24. The jackpot starts at $50 million, grows without a cap until it is won, and is shared between winning tickets. The winner chooses between an annuity of 30 payments and a lump sum. Every ticket gets a random multiplier from 2x to 10x when it is bought, applied to every prize except the jackpot. The old Megaplier option was retired with this change.

The game's record is $1.602 billion, won on 8 August 2023 by a single ticket sold in Florida. The very first Mega Millions draw, on 17 May 2002, also produced a jackpot winner, in Illinois.

The Lottevo archive holds 3,073 Mega Millions 5/70 draws, from 6 September 1996 to 30 October 2026.

Since 24 October 2017, when the current format began, the most frequently drawn number is 10 (88 times), and the least frequent is 65 (53 times). Each draw is independent: past frequencies do not change the odds of the next one.

Game at a glance

Know the details.

Game code

US-006

Number format

5/70+1/24

Currency

USD

Time zone

America/New_York

Schedule

Tuesday and Friday at 23:00

Prize model

Mixed

Odds of the top prize

1 in 290,472,336

Price of one play

US$5

First draw

8 Apr 2025

Results on record

7 Sept 1996 to 31 Oct 2026

Completeness of the record

100% · complete · from the operator