(KGTV) – The price to play the Mega Millions lottery game is set to go up in 2025, according to California Lottery officials.
Lottery officials on Monday announced several major changes to the Mega Millions game, but the biggest difference players will see will be the cost per play going from $2 to $5.
The price increase and other “game enhancements” will take effect in April 2025, lottery officials confirmed.
Changes/improvements to Mega Millions include, according to lottery officials:
- Improved odds to win the jackpot
- Bigger jackpots more frequently
- Larger starting jackpots
- Faster growing jackpots
- A built-in multiplier on every play, automatically improving every non-jackpot win by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or 10X – up to $10 million for matching the five white balls
- No breakeven prizes, meaning when a player wins, they’ll always win more than the cost of the ticket
California Lottery Director Harjinder K. Shergill Chima said of the upcoming Mega Millions changes, “We think this is a winning proposition for both our players and our mission to raise supplemental funding for public education. With bigger jackpots that grow even faster, and better odds for players, we expect better sales for Mega Millions, and in turn, more money for schools.”
The last time the price to play Mega Millions went up was in 2017, when it went from $1 to $2 per play.
In addition to California, Mega Millions is played in 44 other U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Mega Millions drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. Pacific time.
