Mega Millions Prize Climbs to $1B Ahead of Christmas Eve Drawing: 'Sense of Magic in the Air'
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12/24/2024 02:17 PM
The winner, or winners, could walk away with $448.8 million, should they select the cash option
Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty
A person holds up their Mega Millions lottery tickets in New York City.The Mega Millions jackpot has climbed to $1 billion ahead of the Christmas Eve drawing.
Lottery officials announced the historic prize in a news release published on Tuesday, Dec. 24, the day of the big draw. The winner, or winners, could walk away with $448.8 million, should they select the cash option.
"Can you imagine going to bed and then waking up on December 25, checking your ticket and realizing you just won a $1 billion jackpot?" Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement.
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This is the seventh time in Mega Millions history that the jackpot has passed the billion-dollar mark, lottery officials said. And according to NBC News, it would be the largest prize won in December, should someone win.
The Mega Millions jackpot has been building since Sept. 10, when the then-$810 million prize was won in Texas. There have been 29 drawings since then and Christmas Eve, but no one has won the big prize.
"The dream of that sum of money is just so much fun to think about, especially around the holidays, when there's already a sense of magic in the air," Johnson said in his statement.
The Christmas Eve Mega Millions drawing will take place at 11 p.m. ET. The draw video "will be available through the Mega Millions website" shortly after the television broadcast. Tickets for the game are $2 apiece.
