U.S. Mega Millions lottery hits record $1.6 billion after no winners on Friday

By Alex Dobuzinskis

 

FILE PHOTO: Signs display the jackpots for Mega Millions and Powerball lottery drawings at a newsstands in midtown Manhattan in New York, U.S., October 19, 2018. REUTERS/Mike Sugar

 

(Reuters) - The U.S. Mega Millions jackpot grew to $1.6 billion, a world record for a lottery, after Friday's drawing produced no winner of the grand prize, officials said.

 

The next Mega Millions draw will be on Tuesday, after no one hit all of the numbers of 15, 23, 53, 65, 70 and the Mega Ball 7 during Friday night's draw.

 

"Mega Millions has already entered historic territory, but it's truly astounding to think that now the jackpot has reached an all-time world record," Gordon Medenica, lead director of the Mega Millions Group, said in a statement.

 

The Mega Millions is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association, along with several other lottery games including one called Powerball.

 

A drawing was held on Saturday for a Powerball jackpot worth an estimated $470 million. The winning numbers were: 16, 54, 57, 62, 69, and Powerball 23.

 

There was no winner for Saturday's Powerball drawing and the new jackpot is estimated to be $620 million, the lottery announced on its website early Sunday. The lump sum cash payout is estimated at $354.3 million and the next drawing for the Powerball is set for Wednesday.

 

Both lotteries' jackpots have been increased recently by rule changes that have decreased the odds of winning.

 

The Mega Millions' odds were lowered a year ago to 1-in-303 million from 1-in-259 million, to generate larger prizes.

 

If a player hits all six numbers to win the jackpot, they can opt for an immediate cash payment of $904 million or receive the $1.6 billion prize over 29 years.

 

The current jackpot beats the previous record, a $1.586 billion jackpot for a Powerball drawing in 2016, said Seth Elkin, a spokesman for Mega Millions.

A Spanish lottery called El Gordo typically generates a larger purse than Mega Millions or Powerball, but that money is split between many winners and no single prize in El Gordo approaches the size of the latest Mega Millions jackpot, Elkin said.

 

The 24 semi-weekly Mega Millions drawings have failed to produce a top winner since July 24, when an 11-member office pool in Santa Clara County, California, shared a $543 million jackpot.

 

That is partly by design.

 

When lottery officials changed the Mega Millions rules in October 2017 to shrink the odds of winning and increase ticket prices to $2 from $1, then-Mega Millions president Debbie Alford said the innovations would deliver "attention-grabbing jackpots" and generate increased revenues.

 

Leaders of the U.S. lottery industry, which generates about $80 billion in annual revenue, have experimented with different rules and marketing strategies as they have encountered falling interest among millennials, who are used to the almost-instant gratification of online games and social media. https://reut.rs/2AkTiya

 

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Several states allow online ticket purchases, but they prohibit out-of-state and foreign purchases, Elkin said.

 

If more than one winner is picked, the jackpot would be divided proportionately, as happened when the previous Mega Millions record of $656 million was drawn in March 2012 and was shared by winners in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland, a lottery official said.

 

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Rich McKay in Atlanta; Editing by Franklin Paul, Christian Schmollinger and Dale Hudson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-22

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The winning numbers were: 16, 54, 57, 62, 69, and Powerball 23.

they should have printed these numbers last week