Feb. 21 (UPI) — After a record-setting 2023, Mega Millions posted its first jackpot that topped $500 million this week after no one won the jackpot Tuesday’s drawing.
Mega Millions lottery officials said the new jackpot for Friday’s drawing will be an estimated $525 million with a cash payout of $247.1 million after no tickets had the winning numbers of 5, 45, 55, 58 and 68 with the goal Mega Ball 7 on Tuesday.
The $525 million jackpot is just shy of Mega Million’s Top 10 jackpot rankings, behind the $533 million winning total in 2018. Mega Millions awarded two jackpots of more than $1 billion in 2023, the first time it gave away two $1 billion prizes in the same year.
The last time Mega Millions blew past $1 billion was this past July. The winning jackpot grew to $1.602 billion, the largest in the game’s history won by a single ticket in Florida.
“[Friday’s jackpot] would be the 11th largest jackpot in the history of the game and the fifth largest in the past five years,” Mega Millions officials said in a statement, “Since the last jackpot was won on Dec. 8 with two tickets in California, there have been more than 13 million winning tickets at all non-jackpot prize levels.”
America’s other lottery game, Powerball, will hold its drawing Wednesday night with a jackpot of $348 million on the line.
