BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Mega Millions tickets are about to cost mega more.
The lottery game promoted a "new version" of Mega Millions in a March 25 news release, announcing tickets will cost $5 instead of $2 — a 150% price increase.
The first drawing under "the new prize structure" will take place Tuesday, April 8.
It's the game's second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than two decades ago, the release says.
"Beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that's exactly what this new game delivers."Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium
Mega Millions says these game enhancements will better benefit players.
Under the new prize structure, players have a higher chance to win any prize — improved from 1 in 24 to 1 in 23.
The changes also improve players odds to win the jackpot, the release says. Those odds increase from 1 in 302,575,350 to 1 in 290,472,336.
"Beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that's exactly what this new game delivers," Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, said in the release.
Jackpots to grow faster
One gold Mega Ball will be removed from the game, which will feature 24 Mega Balls instead of the current 25.
The increased ticket cost also will create a higher starting jackpot. The current starting jackpot sits at $20 million, but will reset to $50 million in the next game — if no one wins.
If someone doesn't win the jackpot on the April 4 drawing, the jackpot from the current game will roll into the new game.
"That's the kind of value the new Mega Millions will deliver to our players at every single drawing."Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium
"Jackpots are expected to grow faster and get to higher dollar amounts more frequently in the new game," the release says.
"The Mega Millions Consortium estimates that the average jackpot win in the new game will be more than $800 million vs. approximately $450 million in the current game."
The "Megaplier" add-on, which was available for an extra $1, will be retired, according to the release, and replaced with a built-in random multiplier.
The "Just the Jackpot" feature will also be retired.
Non-jackpot wins will multiply the base prize by 2 times to 5 times, or 10 times automatically, where prizes can range from $10 to $10 million.
The current game offers non-jackpot prizes ranging from $2 to $1 million.
"Players who had won $2 in the old game will now take home $10, $15, $20, $25 or $50 under this game," Johnston said in the release.
"Those who had won $500 under the old rules will now take home $1,000; $1,500; $2,000; $2,500 or $5,000 in this new game. Non-jackpot prizes at every level are going up by 2X to 10X.
"That's the kind of value the new Mega Millions will deliver to our players at every single drawing."
Already-drawn tickets
As of Tuesday, April 1, the Mega Millions next estimated jackpot was $29 million with a cash option of $13.5 million.
What about winning tickets that have already been drawn, but not cashed in?
"Players who have a winning ticket that was issued for a drawing prior to the game change and who claim their prize by the deadline set by their participating lottery will be paid based on the prize matrix in effect during the time of the drawing for their ticket, regardless of when the prize is claimed," the release says.
The Pennsylvania Lottery Press Secretary said prizes for draw games "can be collected up to one year from the drawing date."
