New Mega Millions brings bigger jackpots and better odds to win

March 25, 2025 Posted by NC Lottery at 11:15 AM

A new and enhanced Mega Millions game arrives in April featuring jackpots that start at more than double their current size, grow faster and offer better odds to win. Here’s what you need to know about the mega makeover:

Will the jackpots be larger?

The starting jackpot will reset to $50 million following a jackpot win, an increase of $30 million.

Will jackpots grow faster?

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 as jackpots are expected to grow faster in the new game.

Will there be better odds to win?

Odds to win the jackpot will improve to 1 in 290 million from 1 in 302 million. Overall odds to win any prize will improve to one in 23 from one in 24 because the new game will feature 24 Mega Balls instead of 25 in the current game.

Will the non-jackpot prizes be larger?

Every non-jackpot win will multiply its base prize by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X automatically. Prizes in the new game will range from $10 to $10 million vs. the $2 to $1 million in the current game.

Do I still need to add a “Megaplier” to my ticket?

The “Megaplier” add on feature that is currently available for an additional $1 will be replaced with the built-in multiplier so all wins will be automatically multiplied by at least 2X.

Will the cost of tickets change?

Since the new Mega Millions game features higher value prizes throughout the game and better odds to win, the price of tickets will be $5 per play. That is the first price change since 2017. Players will win a minimum prize of $10 on a winning ticket. That means every winning ticket will pay out at least double its cost. Currently, the minimum prize on a winning ticket equals the cost to play.

When will these changes go into effect?

These changes will go into effect after the final drawing of the current game on Friday, April 4. The first drawing under the new prize structure will be held Tuesday, April 8.

102 COMMENTS

4/01/2025 08:55 - Glenn E.

Looks like greed has made it's way into the lottery system. Odds improved to 1 in 290 from 1 in 302. LOL I say don't play this game people. Boycott it!

4/01/2025 02:09 - Steve A.

Correction on that last comment a group of 10 people @ 5 ea 10 numbers and of course a group of 20 @ 5 ea 20 numbers but you still only investing $5.I think a group is the way to go with this new MM.

4/01/2025 01:46 - Steve A.

HEY GUYS MAYBE THE BEST WAY TO PLAY THIS NEW VERSION OF MM IS IN A POOL. A GROUP OF 10 OR 20 PEOPLE ARE 50 OR 100 NUMBERS YET U ONLY GOT 5 IN. WHATA YOU THINK.

4/01/2025 01:35 - Steve A.

when they see they're putting out more than they bring in watch another change. but and when that pot gets up there i might go ahead and drop a 5 on a game m8b i'll get LUCKY

4/01/2025 12:58 - Mary E.

Gonna pass. $5 too much. I was an auto renew player. Not anymore.

3/31/2025 09:35 - Joseph H.

I'll play a "little less" and hope for a "little more" luck; maybe it'll work out a "lot better!" Still better than a $10 or more cup of joe.

3/31/2025 09:10 - Frank M.

Wow...can't play much, lol

3/31/2025 08:48 - DAVID W.

THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT,NOW I CAN LOOSE MOORE MONEY WITH LESS CHANCES TO WIN!

3/31/2025 07:51 - rena w.

GREAT!

3/31/2025 07:24 - Linda H.

Probably will have to play other affordable draw games!

3/31/2025 06:35 - Arlene V.

WHAT A CROCK. SHAME ON YOU LOTTERY PEOPLE. I'M OUT

3/31/2025 03:32 - arthur k.

OPTIMISTIC!

3/31/2025 02:47 - Delores W.

play smart if you can afford it.

3/31/2025 02:06 - Richard T.

I'm sorry but in this economy $5.00 per set of numbers is just too much.

3/31/2025 12:43 - richard p.

It will cost too much for average people to play, gambling at it's worst.

3/31/2025 12:17 - Doreen B.

I am going to think long and hard before paying $5 for a ticket

3/31/2025 10:21 - Glenda H.

Great

3/31/2025 08:56 - Steve G.

Looks like I've bought my last Mega Millions ticket. A 500% increase in the cost of a ticket is ridiculous.

3/30/2025 11:10 - Dennis W.

I rarely paid for the multiplier. Now the base ticket is more, and no choice on the multiplier for barely better odds. Will end up playing less often.

3/30/2025 09:17 - Danielle Simone R.

Lmfaoooo!!! Good luck MM! You won’t be missed.

3/30/2025 07:31 - Paul R.

Too high. Especially considering the low likelihood of winning. If you are smart (doubtful) you will keep the price where it is.

3/30/2025 02:38 - Kim S.

You all are nuts to charge $5 a ticket .. people that have gambling addictions will bankrupt themselves ...

3/30/2025 02:10 - Randy N.

You just lost a player! There's no way I'm paying $5 for one Mega Millions ticket.

3/30/2025 01:44 - Steven M.

Is this Brandon's built back better?? I'm out. Been a regular player for years. Way too high a price.

3/30/2025 12:32 - Vivian W.

You just lost a player! There's no way I'm paying $5 for one Mega Millions ticket. I don't trust that more people will win. I agree with others that you all could have started a new game instead of increasing the price on one ticket. Yall are super greedy! Shame on you!

3/30/2025 12:20 - Derrick R.

We'll give it a shot!

3/30/2025 11:47 - James S.

Interesting Odds! Thanks for the update.

3/30/2025 10:25 - Michael B.

Stupid. You just lost me as a player. If you want more revenue, you don't raise prices. That's plain economics. When prices are lowered, more revenue goes into the coffers because more people play. Raising prices by 150% is revenue defeative.

3/30/2025 10:24 - Kevin P.

This seems like an excellent opportunity for NC to introduce a new higher tier state lottery game as an alternative (as states such as TX have done) in the $2-3 per ticket range, with larger starting jackpots than Cash5. I feel like many people leaving Mega Millions over this increase would use that freed up money to buy tickets for such a game run by their home state instead.

3/30/2025 10:02 - Sheila G.

This is a pretty steep increase per play. Talk about inflation!!

3/30/2025 09:22 - Jeffrey B.

if going from 2.00 a play to 5.00 per play the odds should double the chances to win not just from one in 302million to one in 290 million only knocks off 12 million chances?it still hard to match those 6 balls

3/30/2025 08:18 - Brenda B.

While I believe I can't win if I don't play, I also believe I'll stop playing this game at $5.00 for each chance to win. Especially since in all the years I've gone with this positive attitude playing the lottery, I rarely win anything, especially with draw tickets. If the odds are with me I've lucky to win more than $4.00 on draw tickets. Shrinkflation wins again.

3/29/2025 08:23 - Dale P.

This is too high for me. I will no longer play Mega Millions.

3/29/2025 06:23 - Irma B.

That is terrible!!!!!

3/29/2025 03:36 - ANTHONY D.

Thanks but nope. Its no longer fun at that price.

3/29/2025 02:05 - Dan W.

I think more less people will play

3/29/2025 01:32 - Robin B.

Aya!!!! can't win old way, how can i win on the new expensive way????

3/29/2025 11:53 - Dorothy C.

Expensive, I will give it a try by cutting back on the number of tickets!

3/29/2025 11:14 - Dale Y.

Too much of an increase

3/29/2025 08:25 - Melissa W.

That is pretty pricey. I'm not sure it's worth it.

3/29/2025 07:13 - Sheila M.

I have been playing the same numbers since 2017 and will no longer play them at this price. Good luck with this!

3/29/2025 12:21 - John D.

NORTH CAROLINA AGREED TO THIS MONEY GRAB CLICK BAIT PEOPLE YOU SEE IT EVERYDAY THEY WANT YOUR MONEY A LITTLE BIT FASTER NORTH CAROLINA DIDN'T HAVE TO AGREE WITH THE MEGA MILLIONS THEY COULD HAVE DROPPED IT AND PICK UP ANOTHER GAME LIKE OTHER STATES DO

3/28/2025 11:54 - Ahsaki S.

GREAT!

3/28/2025 11:53 - Stephanie C.

Awesome

3/28/2025 09:18 - Virginia B.

Too high, will have to cut back on number of tickets I buy!

3/28/2025 09:04 - Brad C.

5.00 way to high, finding it hard to play now a current cost

3/28/2025 09:01 - Mark B.

Radix malorum est cupiditas

3/28/2025 08:41 - Kathy H.

I would like more winners with lower dollar amounts won. Spread the wealth!

3/28/2025 08:00 - Patricia B.

not happy with 5.00 a ticket,but will give it a go and see how it works out!

3/28/2025 07:17 - CEDRIC G.

I agree with the commenters about losing faith in MegaMillions (and PowerBall) when they decreased and never went back to the $40Mill starting jackpots when it seemed obvious both were making money. Guess it remains to be seen if MegaMillions will be hurt due to these latest changes.

3/28/2025 04:51 - Eloise E.

Sounds great!

3/28/2025 04:08 - Caleb B.

I agree with the folks who have spoken before me. it should go back to 1.00. 5.00 is way too much!

3/28/2025 03:34 - Joshua K.

Why reinvent the wheel? I’m a hard pass.

3/28/2025 02:53 - Sherry B.

I was hoping they would cut back on the numbers to have more winners… I would rather see more winners at lower prizes than the Mega prizes…. Definitely don’t agree with the price increase, guess I’ll stick with Powerball…till they screw that one up.

3/28/2025 02:47 - Patricia Anne M.

That's a very bad call. In these trying economic times, it would be better to drop the ticket price, and give smaller jackpots to more people. The world doesn't need more mega millionaires. You've lost this customer, and I'm sure you don't care.

3/28/2025 02:44 - michele C.

I will not be playing at $5 per play. New and enhanced? Please.

3/28/2025 02:33 - michael z.

Will definitely be buying less tickets per draw, no matter how big the jackpot. :-(

3/28/2025 02:24 - Melissa H.

Might consider still buying one if there was a guarantee the winner would be from north carolina. Im SO SICK of seeing all the big huge life-changing jackpots being won in states like new york!!!

3/28/2025 01:59 - Tiffany A.

Ouch, $5/ticket? I don’t think so. Not because it doesn’t fit my budget, but because it’s obviously a cash grab. Group decision or not, it’s a bad one and you should be listening to your consumers… if you want to keep them, that is.

3/28/2025 01:04 - Juanita W.

Still not sure why several winners cannot be selected for top prize. To win, for example, 600 million dollars is not reasonable.NC Lottery
Hi, Juanita! It's possible for multiple winners to win the top prize, and the jackpot would be split among all winners matching the drawn numbers. Since there are around 290 million different combinations, we don't often see multiple winners matching all of the numbers to win the jackpot, but it's still possible!

3/28/2025 01:04 - Evelio G.

the game is getting too expensive. Is better 3$ and 1$ for the Mega plyer

3/28/2025 12:41 - Wyvern A.

I think that is to much

3/28/2025 12:27 - Janice L.

3/28/2025 12:25 - Jackie S.

Good luck with doubling the price....count me out!

3/28/2025 11:42 - cynthia f.

In, All the WAY

3/28/2025 11:30 - cecil b.

Not for $5!

3/28/2025 10:33 - Brian S.

Nope. I'm out.

3/28/2025 10:14 - Terrence S.

The game was just fine where it was at. They should have left it as is and removed the ball anyway to increase the odds. Increasing to $5 is just praying on those that gambling addicted. Anybody that "needs" $50M as opposed to $10M isn't playing Mega anyways. Also, out of curiosity, how much are those that work on the Megamillions board making?

3/28/2025 10:09 - Jamie B.

Here a money grab There a money grab Errywhere a money grab. No, nope, and noper.

3/28/2025 10:01 - Joe P.

You can forget it, going to $5 a ticket! What a ripoff! I'm out

3/28/2025 09:39 - Stephen K.

If you are choosing not to play the game because the cost is outside of your budget, that's Playing Smart. If you're choosing not to play because the odds didn't go up appreciably when compared to the price, you'll need to do some more complex math to see what you'd win for each dollar spent. I did so and for the current game with the multiplier and $40M jackpot, you could expect to win $1.27 or $0.74 accounting only for non-jackpot wins. This comes out to $0.247 per dollar for a $3 ticket. For the new $5 tickets, the corresponding numbers are $1.78 or $1.12 excluding the jackpot. Rounded this comes out to $0.356 per dollar including the jackpot and $0.224 per dollar excluding. Based on this, I am only likely to buy new Mega millions tickets when there is a bonus making it worthwhile.

3/28/2025 08:55 - Douglas S.

Haha, while they're at it, they should change the name to "Mega Rip-Off". Much more transparent.

3/28/2025 08:37 - Soshicor G.

I've never seen anyone win 5+ MB. Before someone reaches that point, they end the game and restart it. It's all just a way to fool people!

3/28/2025 08:34 - Douglas S.

Boy, you really have to feel lucky to shell out $5 on a regular basis to play this game. What a rip-off!

3/28/2025 05:17 - nels l.

Hey Mega....buh by....

3/28/2025 12:33 - Takeeya R.

I ready to play. I look at as you have to spend money to make money and on top of that I've wasted money on worst things. Why not take a chance to strike it rich! ??

3/27/2025 07:13 - Mark B.

More than double the cost, just double my odds of winning and I will play. Otherwise, never again.

3/26/2025 12:45 - Irwin F.

Too rich for me. Odds are still poor. Won't waste my money on this.

3/26/2025 11:05 - John D.

I see I'm not the only person to see what's going on Finally NORTH CAROLINA PEOPLE ARE REALLY PAYING ATTENTION THE SCRATCH OFFS ARE DEFINITELY BOGUS AND THE MEGA MILLIONS IS DEFINITELY DESIGNED FOR ANOTHER STATE WHEN IS THE LAST TIME ABIG JACKPOT WAS HIT IN NC NEVER PEOPLE NCEL NEED TO BE AUDITED THEY ARE GETTING RICHER BY THE DAY NCEL KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THE WINNERS WILL BE PLACED KEEP WATCHING NC AND GOOD LUCK EVERYONE AND HAVE A BLESSED DAY ??

3/26/2025 10:08 - William A.

NC Lottery what you told Kenny is incorrect. There was supposed to be a 40 million starting point with a guaranteed 10 million increase with the last ticket increase. They used Covid as the excuse to cut it and never put it back. I don’t care if they increase the price players will determine if it works or not. Powerball and Mega have already lied to players so it’s hard to have faith in them now.

3/26/2025 10:00 - William A.

This is the same deal before Covid. They went up on the ticket. Jackpots starting at 40 million. Covid hits they reduce the jackpots and never went back. It should be illegal. They should have to pay the last few years when the jackpot was supposed to start at 40 million and only started at 20 million. What a Scam.

3/26/2025 09:47 - NC Lottery

@Kenny H. - Thank you for your comment! Jackpot increases in between each drawing can depend on the amount of tickets sold. With Powerball and Mega Millions, there is a minimum amount that the jackpot will increase between each drawing, but they can increase more depending on ticket sales. As for your other question, Mega Millions will remain a ball drop game with traditional ball machines, as are used currently. We hope this helps to clarify!

3/26/2025 09:36 - Eugene G.

I am in. First Mega winner 2025

3/26/2025 08:50 - June P.

THE SPIRIT OF GREED!!!!! I WILL NOT BE PLAYING!!!!!! IT IS SHOCKING HOW THE PLAYERS HAVE NO SAY!!!!! MM DECREASED THE JACKPOT ROLLOVER DURING THE PANDEMIC!!!! NOW MM IS RAISING THE PRICE!!!!!! PERHAPS WE SHOULD BOYCOTT!!!! $5.00 PER TICKET IS A LOT 2WICE A WEEK!!!!!

3/26/2025 07:48 - mike r.

It’s only money

3/26/2025 07:40 - John K.

Ridiculous. Anyone can currently double their odds of winning just by buying 2 tickets.

3/26/2025 07:09 - Denise C.

what greedy people

3/26/2025 04:04 - Brian T.

Lol, NCEL I love your spin factor logic. It's equivalent to a store sale promo of half off twice as much with a membership fee required. Shame on all of the Multi State Lottery "syndicates" supporting this behavior.

3/26/2025 03:23 - Syd G.

NEVER playing Mega Millions again once price increase goes into effect.

3/26/2025 01:07 - Charles F.

You lost me!

3/26/2025 12:47 - Richard D.

Budget Buster. I have always purchased one MegaPlier Ticket for each drawing = $6/week. With the revised MegaMillions 2 Tickets/week = $10, which is a 67% increase - No Thank You. I will save the $6/week which puts $312 back in my wallet per year!

3/25/2025 11:21 - Jack W.

This should end Mega Million I haven't played it since the increase was announced and I never plan to play it again. They have screwed everyone since covid they said cost them money. Not being greedy will cost them the game.

3/25/2025 08:20 - eddie h.

Too high won't be playing mega no more

3/25/2025 08:02 - Robert C.

costing more but odds of winning do not seem much better just costing more money, not sure I will still play. Try a few times and if no winnings then I will be done.

3/25/2025 07:54 - kenny h.

Hello.I’ve got a couple of questions please. On the subject of Jackpots I’ve noticed in the last couple of years and of course most recently that there’s been small increases in rolling Jackpots compared to past drawings when the Jackpots are in the hundreds of millions. On average 20 million increases ( 5 drawings). The current Powerball for example. Look at Powerball October 2018 from 476.7 million to 602.5 million That’s 125.8 million increase How about Megamillions 2018 October 667 million to One billion then 1.6 billion. And there’s plenty of other examples. Can we get a legitimate reason on why such a difference? 2nd question. On changes with Megamillions. Is it going to remain a ball drop game? I hope so. I would hate to see another game ruined like the Lucky For Life has been. Have a great day everyone.NC Lottery
Hi, Kenny! Due to character limits, we had to put our reply in a separate comment. You can find that in the thread above.

3/25/2025 06:06 - Eugene H.

Oh WOW! Odds improve to 1 in 290 million from 1 in 302 million. That really makes it easy to win. I feel much better about the game now. Snicker.

3/25/2025 06:00 - Lacy D.

After the last billion dollar jackpot was won in CA, I stopped playing Mega. This new increase will only help CA, TX, NY and NJ where they’re always won.

3/25/2025 05:28 - Tom a.

Bought a farewell ticket today. Will spend my $2 on Cash 5 going forward.

3/25/2025 05:27 - darryl i.

This BLOWS! Barely increase the odds to win but, raise the price 150% . CROOKS!!!!!

3/25/2025 05:20 - Sharonda M.

I play so much just hoping for a big win real soon ?? ???? lord help meNC Lottery
We're wishing you lots of luck, Sharonda!

3/25/2025 03:30 - frank p.

not playing after increases

3/25/2025 01:46 - George M.

I won't be playing the increased ticket.

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New Mega Millions brings bigger jackpots and better odds to win

March 25, 2025 Posted by NC Lottery at 11:15 AM

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