A man walks past Mega Millions and other lottery displays outside of The Lucky Spot in San Francisco, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. The Mega Millions jackpot has climbed to $970 million, inching ever-closer to the $1 billion mark. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The Mega Millions jackpot on Thursday jumped to $970 million.
The drawing for the prize will be on Friday night. A single winner taking the cash lump sum would receive about $548 million.
The jackpot for Powerball has skyrocketed to almost half a billion after no one won Wednesday.
The winning numbers for Powerball, a comparatively meager sum of just $345 million, were 3-57-64-68-69 and a Powerball of 15. One person in Florida won $2 million, while tickets in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Kentucky each were worth $1 million.
The pot rises to $430 million for Saturday’s drawing. The cash payout is $248 million.
The next drawing for Powerball is Saturday.
But the record numbers are being left to the Mega Millions jackpot, set to be drawn on Friday. The projected prize would be the second-largest payout in U.S. lotteryhistory.
The only lottery payout in history that was larger than Friday’s $970 million total was a Powerball drawing for $1.59 billion in January 2016. Three winners split that total.
“It’s always a thrill to have both jackpots rolling, but there’s an extra spark now with Mega Millions reaching a new record,” Gordon Medenica, Mega Millions lead director and Maryland’s lottery and gaming director said in a statement on Tuesday. “Everyone is talking about the jackpot and running out to buy tickets for tonight’s drawing.”
The Mega Millions jackpot has skyrocketed since the July 24 drawing when a group of 11 coworkers in Santa Clara County, California, shared a $543 million jackpot, the game’s fourth-largest.
More than $1 billion in combined potential prize money remains up for grabs, with Saturday night Powerball prize estimated at $430 million — or a one-time cash prize of nearly $248 million and Friday Mega Millions prize at $970 million.