Next Est. Jackpot On 3/14:
Cash Option: $129,500,000
About Mega Millions
Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery game with MEGA jackpots and MEGA fun.
A Planning Note: Leading into the Mega Millions® game make-over in early April, the Iowa Lottery will temporarily limit the number of drawings for which players
can purchase tickets in advance. That "step down" process is designed to ensure that no one mistakenly ends up with an invalid play when the new version of the game begins.
Once the Mega Millions redesign debuts April 5, Iowa players will again be able to purchase tickets in the game for up to 10 drawings in advance.
Here is the Iowa schedule for the step down on advance plays in Mega Millions. The number of available plays drops down after the draw on the same day:
Drawing
Date |
Maximum Number of
Advance Plays Available |
| February 28 |
10 |
| March 4 |
9 |
| March 7 |
8 |
| March 11 |
7 |
| March 14 |
6 |
| March 18 |
5 |
| March 21 |
4 |
| March 25 |
3 |
| March 28 |
2 |
| April 1 |
1 |
How To Play
Choose five numbers from 1 to 70 for the white balls, then pick the yellow Mega Ball from a separate pool of 1 to 24. The more numbers you match in a drawing, the more you win. If you match all six numbers, you win the jackpot!
You can choose your own numbers or ask for an easy pick to have the lottery terminal or self-service kiosk to select the numbers on your ticket. Check the multi-draw box to buy tickets for up to 10 consecutive drawings at a time.
There are nine prize levels in the game, so even if you don’t win the jackpot, be sure to check your ticket after each drawing.
A multiplier is built into each play in the game, so any prize you win except the jackpot will be multiplied by 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X or even 10X. That means there are no break-even prizes. The smallest prize you can win in the game is $10 – twice the purchase price.
Prizes & Odds of Winning
The multiplier for each play is randomly assigned and automatically included.
For tickets containing multiple plays, the multipliers on the ticket can repeat, be different, or all be the same.
The Mega Millions jackpot starts at $50 million and grows until someone wins it. Then it resets to the starting amount and begins to grow again.
Mega Millions drawings are held at 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tickets can be purchased until 8:59 p.m. on the evening of the drawing.
Mega Millions prizes won in Iowa must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing in which they were won.
Cash vs. Annuity Option
A Mega Millions jackpot winner can choose to receive the prize in annuity payments over time or as a one-time, lump-sum payment. A player has 60 days from the date they claim their prize
in Iowa to choose the cash or annuity option.
If the player selects the cash option, they will receive a single payment equal to the amount available in the jackpot prize pool from the sale of tickets in the game.
If the player chooses the annuity option, their prize will be paid in 30 payments over 29 years. The annual payment will increase by 5 percent to accommodate for factors like inflation.
If the cost to purchase the annuity is less than $250,000, the lottery may elect to pay the prize as cash.
History
Mega Millions began on August 31, 1996, as the Big Game. In May 2002, the multi-state game was redesigned and given the new name of Mega Millions. Then in January 2010, 23 more state lotteries,
including the Iowa Lottery, began selling Mega Millions.
The largest Mega Millions jackpot to date was a prize of more than $1.6 billion won in Florida in August 2023.
*The jackpot prize will be divided equally among multiple winners based on the amount available in the game’s jackpot prize pool. The game’s total prize pool is estimated to be
55 percent of Mega Millions sales, but may be higher or lower based upon the number of winners at each guaranteed prize level, as well as the funding required to meet the official advertised jackpot.
The official Mega Millions grand prize annuity amount is subject to change based on sales forecasts and/or actual sales. Reminder: The multiplier does not apply to the jackpot.
**The set prize amounts published here are based on the expected number of winners sharing in the prize pool. For any drawing, if prize liability exceeds the percentage of the prize pool
allocated to the set prize levels, then all prizes except the jackpot prize may become pari-mutuel and would be lower than these prize levels.
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