"Jackpot? No Chance Anyway"…US Passes $2 Trillion in Winnings but People Don't Buy Lottery Tickets

Lottery Sales Down 23% in 7 Months
"Fewer Winners, Bigger Prizes... Fatigue"

The jackpot for the US 'Mega Millions' lottery has surpassed 2 trillion won, but lottery ticket purchases are actually declining.

Mega Millions lottery in the United States.
[Photo by AP·Yonhap News]

On the 8th (local time), the US online media Axios cited data from LotteryReport.com, reporting that lottery sales are decreasing. Although the US lottery jackpots have repeatedly accumulated to over 1 trillion won, the odds of winning have decreased, leading to what is being called 'lottery fatigue' within the US.

The number of Mega Millions tickets sold for the drawing on the 4th was 132.7 million.

At that time, the expected jackpot was $1.35 billion (approximately 1.782 trillion won), but since there was no winner, the jackpot increased to $1.55 billion (approximately 2.025 trillion won).

However, in January, when the jackpot was also $1.35 billion, Mega Millions ticket sales were 173.1 million. Over seven months, ticket sales dropped by 23%.

Axios stated, "Lottery organizers have made the games more difficult instead of increasing the jackpot, lowering the odds of hitting the 'jackpot.' Over the past few years, the trend has become standard where prizes increase significantly, but jackpot winners decrease."

In fact, since early 2022, the jackpots for major US lotteries like Mega Millions and Powerball have soared above $1 billion. This is because the lottery rules have been changed to be more stringent, drastically lowering the odds of winning.

In the case of Mega Millions, the rules were changed in 2017 to make winning even more difficult. According to the new rules, lottery buyers select a total of 6 numbers: 5 numbers are chosen from 1 to 70, and the remaining 1 number (the Mega Ball) is selected separately from 1 to 25 to form a combination.

The odds of matching all 6 numbers to hit the jackpot are 1 in 330 million per ticket, and as of last year, there were only 6 jackpot winners.

The media pointed out, "The 'lottery craze' that was fueled by multiple jackpots exceeding $1 billion last year may turn into 'lottery fatigue.'"

Meanwhile, the price of a Mega Millions ticket is $2. Of the $2, 75 cents go toward the jackpot prize, 35 cents go toward prizes other than the jackpot, and the remaining 90 cents go to government taxes.

Drawings are held every Tuesday and Friday.