Christmas Eve lottery jackpot nears $1 billion

Mega Millions’ jackpot edged even closer to the billion-dollar mark ahead of its rapidly approaching Christmas Eve drawing. The lottery said over the weekend that Friday night’s drawing didn’t have any players with tickets matching all the numbers, pushing the jackpot to a level just shy of 10 figures. It hovered at an annuitized $970 million as of Monday night, the day before Christmas Eve. As a one-time cash payout, it amounts to $439.9 million. The jackpot is poised to become Mega Millions’ fourth grand-prize win of 2024 if someone lands it before the end of the year, according to the lottery.ILLINOIS WOMAN WINS $1M FROM FORGOTTEN LOTTERY TICKET SHE LEFT IN HER BAGThe three jackpot wins that Mega Millions has seen so far this year occurred in mid-September, early June and late March. They were worth $810 million, $552 million and $1.128 billion, respectively.The $1.128 billion grand prize, won in March and recently claimed, is the lottery’s largest of the year so far and its only one to break 10-figures in 2024 to date, according to Mega Millions.The currently up-for-grabs $970 million jackpot "would be the largest prize ever won in December and the seventh largest in Mega Millions history" in the event someone matches all six numbers this month, Mega Millions said. It would also mark the second-ever instance of a Christmas Eve jackpot win if Tuesday's drawing yields a grand-prize winner. MAN WINS $1M FROM LOTTERY TICKET HE BOUGHT WITH MONEY FOUND IN PARKING LOTDrawings conducted since September, when the Mega Millions jackpot was most recently won, have produced a multitude of lower-level lottery winners. Fifty-six people have scored windfalls of at least $1 million, and others have received smaller sums, the lottery reported. Mega Millions plans to conduct its Christmas Eve drawing for the $970 million grand prize at 11 p.m. Eastern. The chances of landing the nine-figure jackpot are 1 in about 302.6 million.Fellow lottery Powerball held a drawing for a $103 million jackpot on Monday evening. INDIANA, MISSOURI, PENNSYLVANIA ARE TOP STATES WITH POWERBALL WINNERSAs of Monday, Powerball has seen nine people win its grand prize this year, the largest of which was worth $1.326 billion annuitized.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei FOX Business Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei FOX Business