Mega Millions Ticket Price to Increase in April, Reports Say
Key Points
- As previously announced, Mega Millions would raise the price of its tickets from $2 to $5, marking an increase of over 100%
Mega Millions, one of America’s favorite lottery games, is set to raise the price of its tickets, in line with its earlier plans. The controversial price hike is expected to take place in April, potentially changing how people view the game.
The Game Is Set to Change
As previously announced, Mega Millions would raise the price of its tickets from $2 to $5, marking an increase of over 100%. This would be the first time Mega Millions has increased its pricing since October 2017 when it doubled the cost of a ticket from $1 to $2.
Officials argued that the changes would allow Mega Millions to remain competitive with Powerball while retaining the qualities that make it unique. While experts believe that the change is for the better, it is still expected to have an effect on sales.
Players who might be worried about the price change, however, should keep in mind that they have at least several months before it is ultimately implemented. According to a report by PlayiLottery, the price hike is expected to be implemented on April 5, 2025.
The Price Isn’t the Only Thing Changing
Luckily, the price is not the only thing that’s changing. While the $5 tag might not be to everyone’s liking, Mega Millions will actually make its grand prize slightly easier to win by reducing the gold Mega Ball range from 25 balls to 24 balls.
While this may not seem that significant at first glance, it will greatly alter the chances of someone winning the jackpot. The white ball range will remain at 1-70 despite an earlier proposal to reduce it as well.
In addition to that, the new Mega Millions is expected to sport a refurbished look, further optimizing the player experience.
Speaking of Mega Millions, the game’s jackpot just soared to $800 million with a lump cash option of $401.8 million. The latest drawing may have failed to crown a jackpot winner but elected a whopping seven Match 5 winners. Six of them, from California, Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire and Texas, took prizes of $1 million each. A single player from Ohio, on the other hand, took $2 million home as they had the Megaplier feature active.
Fiona covers the betting and casino sectors, focusing her reporting on operational shifts within land-based markets. Drawing from a background in hospitality management, she investigates how physical venues adapt to modern demands—from cashless gaming floors to omnichannel VIP integrations. Her on-the-ground insights help executives navigate the technological and economic realities transforming brick-and-mortar casinos.
Next Article
Lottery
September 9, 2024
Mansion Group Wins Second High-Profile Court Case in Gibraltar
More Articles
Industry
May 8, 2026
Michigan Hits Pause on Betting Tax Hike
7 Comments
Raising the price of mega game definitely will lose players, bad enough, you have 2 games a week!!!
It will stop me from playing twice a week
I’ll reconsider how many tickets I buy each week!!! That’s not a good move…
That is one of the worst moves the lottery could even consider making . The decrease in sale may not be felt immediately, but it will. Now whose being GREEDY
Oh well I guess I won’t be buying mega millions tickets anymore.
It started out a $1, they raised it to $2 and jackpots started at 40 million and then Covid they went back to 20 million to start and it’s still there. Not worth paying $5
I think that was a big mistake and I also have to be say that it seems to me that all the time the most jackpots are won in the largest states. Oshkosh Wisconsin has never won a big jackpot and they have been playing the game for a very long time so who’s fixing the game the greedy lottery that’s who