Mega Millions ticket price going up
FILE-Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets are displayed in San Anselmo, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Big changes are set to come to the popular Mega Millions lottery game, including the cost of a ticket more than doubling.
California lottery officials on Monday announced that the game would be getting a "mega overhaul" in April, when the ticket price will go up from $2 to $5 per play.
"This is only the game’s second price adjustment since the first ticket was sold more than 20 years ago and the first change since the current game matrix was adopted in 2017," state lottery officials said.
It’s part of a plan for a "new and improved" version of the game which officials said will offer players benefits, including better odds of hitting the jackpot, faster-growing jackpots, larger starting jackpots and more frequent "bigger" winnings.
In California, changes to the nationwide game, which is played in more than 40 states, need approval from the California Lottery Commission.
The commission is set to decide on the proposed changes at an upcoming public meeting, lottery officials said, adding that they're optimistic the updates would be adopted.
"We wouldn't take it to the commission if we didn't feel these changes and enhancements were a positive," said Carolyn Becker, a spokesperson for the California Lottery.
If approved, it would be the California Lottery's only $5 draw game.
If rejected, the state would have to pull out of the multi-state game.
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Officials said the changes will lead to higher sales and, in turn, result in more funding for California's schools.
"We think this is a winning proposition for both our players and our mission to raise supplemental funding for public education," said California Lottery Director Harjinder K. Shergill Chima.
The Mega Millions game has produced six winners of billion dollar jackpots since its launch in 2002.
Lottery officials said that since the game’s last change in 2017, it has led to more than 1,300 players becoming millionaires, an average of three millionaires a week.
Mega Millions drawings are held twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. PST.
With no one hitting all the winning numbers in the last drawing on Friday, the estimated jackpot for Tuesday was $129 million.