The Mega Millions jackpot grows to $1.22 billion ahead of Friday night’s drawing

Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing could reveal a winning ticket for the lottery’s fifth-largest jackpot: $1.22 billion.

The drawing takes place at 11 p.m. ET.

The jackpot has been building since its clock was reset Sept. 13 after someone in Texas claimed an $810 million jackpot, Mega Millions officials said. No ticket matched all six numbers revealed in the latest draw on Christmas Eve.

“We know many people are likely to receive tickets for Friday’s draw as a Christmas present, and what a gift it would be if you end up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, Chief Executive Officer of Mega Millions. The consortium said in a statement on Wednesday.

Since then, players drawn to that billion-dollar number have been buying tickets, contributing to jackpot growth when the purchase deadline at 10 p.m. 10pm ET Friday is approaching.

Residents of eight states can take home the maximum amount from a jackpot win because their state governments do not tax lottery winnings. These states are California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

A win Friday night would surpass the current fifth-largest jackpot of $1.128 billion, which was claimed Monday, months after the March 26 drawing.

The winning ticket was purchased at a ShopRite in Neptune Township, New Jersey, Mega Millions officials said. New Jersey winners have one year to make such a claim.

“It is common for big jackpot winners to take time to file a claim,” Mega Millions officials said in the statement.

The winner, who chose protection under New Jersey law to remain anonymous, chose the prize’s cash value, estimated at $537.5 million before state and federal taxes, Mega Millions officials said.

The federal tax on such an amount is likely to be 37%; New Jersey would tax it at 8%.

The Mega Millions jackpot found a winner three times in 2024 so far. It’s a number officials said would match the fewest jackpot wins in a year since the seven-state game became Mega Millions in 2002.

Mega Millions, played in 45 states, Washington, DC and the U.S. Virgin Islands, produced 10 jackpots in 2023, the most since the game underwent major changes in 2013, officials said in a statement Monday.

A player from Florida claimed the largest Mega Millions jackpot, $1.602 billion, in August 2023. As big as the amount is, however, it could not surpass other multi-state lottery games Powerball’s most valuable jackpot, $2.040 billion, recorded in November 2022.