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$815 million prize on the line in Mega Millions drawing

By Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News Mar 15, 2024 | 11:08 AM
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — More than $800 million is on the line in Friday night’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing, with the grand prize ballooning after 27 consecutive drawings without a winner. The prize grew $23 million on Friday to a total of $815 million due to strong ticket sales.

The prize has a cash value of $385.1 million, offered as a one-time lump-sum payment, or the winnings can be paid out as one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments.

The drawing occurs at 11 p.m. ET.

The grand prize would be the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history behind four billion-dollar winners.

The last jackpot was won on Dec. 8.

There was no big winner in Tuesday’s drawing, which featured numbers 2, 16, 31, 57 and 64 and a gold Mega Ball of 24, but two people won $1 million each for matching five numbers.

The largest Mega Millions jackpot prize ever won was a $1.6 billion prize claimed on Aug. 8, 2023 in Neptune Beach, Florida.

The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, according to Mega Millions.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Tickets are $2 for one play.

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