Mega Millions Takes Risky Bet in Raising Ticket Price to $5, Lottery Players Furious
In April 2025, the cost of a Mega Millions ticket will increase from $2 to $5, and lottery participants are not particularly excited to hear about the format modifications that the Mega Millions Consortium refers to as “enhancements.”
On Monday, the Mega Millions Consortium validated the rumors initially shared in April of this year by our colleagues at LotteryGeeks.com. Officials involved in the interstate lottery game assert that the significant changes will enhance players’ chances of hitting the jackpot, result in bigger jackpots, increase the size of jackpots more rapidly, and remove breakeven situations, ensuring that when a player wins, they will always receive more than the ticket’s price.
"We are creating a game that both our existing players and people new to Mega Millions will love and get excited about playing,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium and the director of the Washington Lottery. “We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played.”
A significant alteration is that each $5 ticket includes the Megaplier — now an optional $1 extra — which will automatically increase nonjackpot winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x, with a maximum of $10 million for matching the five white balls.
Modifications in Format
The cost of a Mega Millions ticket has stayed at $2 since the game increased the price from one dollar in October 2017. That rise in price was also accompanied by a significant revision of the game's odds by decreasing the number of white balls from 75 to 70 and raising the number of gold Mega Balls from 15 to 25.
The format change in 2017 caused the jackpot odds to increase from one in 258.9 million to one in 302.5 million. The gameplay changes for Mega Millions in 2025 will keep the jackpot's current odds, which are longer than those of competitor Powerball at one in 292.2 million.
Mega Millions is available in 45 states along with Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands. The game takes place two times a week on Tuesday and Friday evenings at 11 p.m. EST.
Upset Clients
Johnston understands that increasing the Mega Millions price by 150% will not be popular with everyone, and it apparently isn't pleasing most lottery participants.
"Johnston reasoned that people “pay five bucks for Starbucks.” On X, a user responded to that comment by saying, “I know I’m getting caffeine with Starbucks; I don’t know if I win anything with Mega Millions.”
Another social media user mentioned he’s “likely never purchasing a lottery ticket after April.” Other users voiced worries that numerous lottery winners may not be financially capable of handling the significant price hike for a chance at a dream.
"Decent salary earners know the lottery is a horrible investment with very little return,” said another.
Officials from Powerball, the main rival of Mega Millions, stated that there are no plans to raise the ticket price or alter the gameplay of the game. Powerball might benefit significantly from Mega Millions raising its ticket price, as numerous Mega Millions players are likely to reduce their participation unless the jackpot reaches $1 billion or higher.