Mega Millions tickets to more than double in price

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

The cost of a ticket to play the Mega Millions multistate lottery is going up more than double.

Currently, it costs $2 for a single ticket. In April 2025 it will cost $5 with the lottery company saying it will create a “new and improved game” that has better odds to win and bigger prizes, lottery officials said.

“We expect more billion-dollar jackpots than ever before, meaning creating more billionaires and many more millionaires as the jackpots climb, plus this game will continue the important legacy of supporting great causes everywhere Mega Millions is played,” Mega Millions Consortium lead director Joshua Jackson said in a news release.

The price increase marks only the second time the lottery increased the cost to play. It went from $1 to $2 in 2017.

The jackpot has gone over a billion dollars six times in the history of the game, the lottery said.

The latest jackpot was the $1.6 billion record breaker won by a person in Florida last year, CNN reported.

Three of the top 10 jackpots happened this year.

The company said there will also not be any “breakeven prizes.” That means that a win will be more than $5.

Mega Millions is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands with drawings on Tuesday and Friday nights at 11 p.m. ET.

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