Jackpot for Mega Millions surges past $1 billion after no numbers match on Christmas Eve drawing

On Christmas Eve, the lights shone bright, but nobody won the lottery. Now, the Mega Millions jackpot has grown to an incredible $1.15 billion for Friday’s drawing. This amount is close to being the fifth-largest jackpot ever.

“We know that many people will likely receive tickets to Friday’s drawing as holiday gifts, and what a gift that would turn out to be if you ended up with a ticket worth a $1.15 billion jackpot,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium said in a Wednesday statement.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, while the odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 24, according to lottery officials.

Tickets for the game are sold in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Mega Millions tickets are $2 a piece. Half of the proceeds from the sale of each ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold. Drawings are held at 11 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Fridays.

According to Mega Millions, December has proven to be a lucky month for Mega Millions players, with 13 jackpots won during the holiday season. However, the jackpot has only been won once on Christmas Eve.

“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holidays – whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the Winter Solstice, or any other way people choose to celebrate the season – than by helping fulfill the dreams that come with a prize like this and prizes that will be won at all levels of the game,” Johnston said.

Will luck be on your side? The draw is coming soon!

(With input from AP)