Mega Millions Shoots Past $500 Million

This week’s multistate jackpot was the sixth-highest in the game’s history.

July 27, 2018

ATLANTA – The Mega Millions jackpot skyrocketed this week to more than $500 million, the sixth-highest amount in the multistate lottery’s history, CBS News reports. A single winner in California will take home the $543 million jackpot following the July 24 drawing. Odds for winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 259 million.

The average U.S. resident shells out around $200 annually on lottery tickets, with some states having bigger spenders. Massachusetts residents must feel the luckiest of all because they spend $735 each year on lottery tickets, while Rhode Islanders buy $514 worth of lottery tickets annually. Delaware and New York residents spend roughly $400 each year—or $33 a month—on lottery tickets.

For convenience retailers, large jackpots spell good news because customers flock to their stores to buy tickets, among other items. Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives, pointed out that convenience stores sell around two-thirds of all U.S. lottery tickets.

Digital signage inside stores drives interest in these large jackpots. “It’s that digital signage inside the store that's driving that double interest” in both Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots,” Lenard said. Convenience stores pocket around 10 cents on a $2 ticket, and stores that sell winning tickets usually receive a commission, which varies by state.

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