OAN Shannon Kelland
UPDATED 1:13 PM PT – Tuesday, January 10, 2023
The Mega Millions jackpot estimate for Tuesday’s is at a record $1.1 billion, topping the 10-figure mark for the fourth time in many years.
This jackpot has gone unclaimed for nearly three months with no winner since October 14th The prize sits at $1.1 billion and the cash option is $568.7 million.
Mega Millions ticket holders will be watching Tuesday’s 11:00 p.m. drawing closely as the third-largest prize in the game’s history will reveal the winning numbers.
The largest prize was a single Powerball winner took home $2.04 billion.
There were multiple factors that determined the size of the jackpot. Some recent are getting a little extra boost due to the actions of the Federal Reserve. The figure is based on a combination of forecasted ticket sales to determine the estimated cash value, as well as an annuity prize based on the 30-year U.S. Treasuries rate. The Treasuries rate tends to be closely correlated with Federal Funds rate.
After the Central Bank hiking rates, the 30-year Treasury bond sat at 3.66% on Monday, up from 2.09% a year ago.
Even though, economic policy is a factor it is not considered a biggest driver. Interest rates play a minor role in determining the size of the prize according to Danielle Frizzi-Babb of the Ohio Lottery.
Frizzi-Babb also explained that when folks get excited about a massive jackpot, it drives traffic to retail locations and will sometimes drive ticket sales for the game along with others as well.
Therefore, the heightened consumer interest in playing the lottery during the holidays, has been the driving force of the current prize.
“It’s especially nice to see the jackpot grow throughout the holidays and into the new year,” said Pat McDonald, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium.
There have been 24 drawings since the last jackpot was announced in October. Even though, the jackpot has gone unclaimed, there have been 27 million winning tickets sold. Winners since the last won on October 14, included 52 players who got a $1 million or more, according to Mega Millions.
“We can never predict when we’re going to see one of these big jackpot runs,” said Frizzi-Babb.
“It’s still a lottery game. It’s still the luck of the draw,” she said.
The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot is 1 in 302.5 million.
The Mega Millions can be paid out two ways. One being an initial immediate payment, followed by 29 yearly payments with each payment growing by 5%.
“This helps protect winners’ lifestyle and purchasing power in periods of inflation,” stated by Mega Millions.
The other form of payment is where the winner can choose the cash option. This would be a one-time, lump-sum payment of the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool ($568.7 million).
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