Mega Millions Price Hike Expected To Begin April 2025, Among Other Changes

Lottery players will see a price hike for Mega Millions tickets in 2025.

Proposed changes to the game include raising the ticket price from $2 to $5, modifying the Mega Ball number selection and eliminating the Megaplier and Just the Jackpot options, among other updates. The changes are designed to keep the game competitive with Powerball while preserving its distinct character.

The Texas Lottery appeared to confirm that the current Mega Millions format will remain in place until April 5, 2025, according to a PlayiLottery story. The updated version will launch on April 8, 2025.

This means players will have a few more months to enjoy the familiar Mega Millions format before the game takes on a new look and feel.

The upcoming changes to Mega Millions should affect ticket sales, influencing revenue for traditional retail lotteries and states that offer online lottery options.

Key takeaways

• The Mega Millions ticket price will increase to $5 starting April 8, 2025.
• The updated Mega Millions format will retain the 1-70 white ball range but reduce the gold Mega Ball options from 25 to 24.
• The current Mega Millions format will remain in place until April 5, 2025.

Tweaks will be made to Mega Millions format

The initial proposed changes to Mega Millions suggested that the game would reduce both the gold Mega Ball options and white balls.

However, according to new documentation from the Texas Lottery obtained by PlayiLottery, the Mega Millions Consortium has decided to keep the white balls ranging from 1-70 while decreasing the gold Mega Ball options from 25 to 24.

This change will slightly improve the odds of winning the jackpot prize.

Additionally, the game will retain its automatic multiplier feature, which ranges from 1x to 10x.

Mega Millions jackpot hits $740 million

At the time of this writing, the Mega Millions jackpot has increased to $740 million, following no winning tickets in yesterday’s draw. The cash value of the jackpot is $366.3 million, and the drawing is scheduled for Sept. 6 at 11 p.m. EST.

The $740 million Mega Millions jackpot is the seventh-biggest. To crack the top six, it needs to hit $1 billion — something that’s happened just six times.

The jackpot must exceed $1.602 billion, the record set by a Florida winner last summer, to become the largest in Mega Millions history.

The aforementioned are the Top 10 Mega Millions jackpots:

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the name of the group responsible for the format changes.