RELEASE DATE: 6/29/2016
There will be some Mega Millions fireworks this holiday weekend, as the third largest prize in Mega Millions history will be offered on Friday, July 1. No ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – 15, 17, 20, 35 and 55, plus the Mega Ball 7, so an estimated $415 million ($286 million cash) jackpot is up for grabs on Friday.
That makes it the biggest prize offered in the game since December 17, 2013, when two tickets (sold in California and Georgia) shared a $648 million jackpot.
Since Mega Millions began in 2002, there have been four jackpots won around the July 4 holiday – July 2, 2004 ($294 million won in Massachusetts), July 1, 2011 ($107 million won in Virginia), July 3, 2012 ($85 million won in New York) and July 5, 2013 ($79 million won in Michigan).
There were two $1 million Match 5 winning tickets in Tuesday’s drawing, sold in New Jersey and Texas. In total for the drawing, there were more than 4.1 million winning tickets sold at all prize levels.
The jackpot has been rolling since it was last won in Washington on March 8 at $157 million. Since that time, there have been 46 Match 5 winning tickets worth $1 million or more and a total of 56.2 million winning tickets at all prize levels.
The record Mega Millions jackpot is $656 million – three tickets shared that jackpot on March 30, 2012. Just behind that is the $648 million jackpot split by two winners on December 17, 2013. Those are the only two Mega Millions jackpots in history higher than Friday night’s estimated prize. The most won on a single ticket was $326 million on November 4, 2014.
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