Current jackpot roll expected to deliver about $18 million
in revenue to the State of Illinois
Players have the chance to win an estimated $1.6 billion jackpot in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing – the largest jackpot in world lottery history.
“We are seeing long lines and lots of excitement across Illinois,” said Jason Schaumburg, Illinois Lottery communications director. “The Mega Millions game will create a lot of winners on Tuesday, and, in the end, the State of Illinois and education funding will also win.”
Last Friday, more than 3 million tickets were sold in Illinois for the Mega Millions draw. Since this jackpot rollover began on July 25, 2018, Illinois has seen $70,216,553 in total Mega Millions sales. That total means that whoever may hold a lucky ticket for Tuesday’s drawing (or beyond) won’t be the only big winner in Illinois. As of Oct. 21, this current roll is estimated to have contributed about $18 million in revenue for the State of Illinois, which primarily will go toward education funding.
Twenty-five cents of every dollar spent on the Lottery goes back to the State of Illinois. Since 1985, the Illinois Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools. Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes, such as Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics training programs and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS.
The historic jackpot can be hard to wrap your head around, so the Illinois Lottery came up with a list of items you could buy with $1.6 billion to help put things into perspective:
- 477,611,940 Billy Goat Tavern cheezborgers ($3.35/each)
- 167,539,267 D’Arcys Pint horseshoes ($9.55/each)
- 100,000,000 Navy Pier ferris wheel rides ($16/each)
- 70,329,670 Lou Malnati’s deep dish pizzas ($22.75/each)
- 48,484,848 Garrett popcorn tins ($33/each)
- 500,156 John Deere X350 tractors ($3,199/each)
- 13,333 Metropolis Superman statues ($120,000/each)
- 8,000 of Collinsville’s world’s-largest catchup bottles ($200,000/each)
- 1 Willis Tower (selling price $1.3 billion in 2015)
The winning numbers from Friday’s Mega Millions drawing were 15, 23, 53, 65 and 70, and the Mega Ball number was 7. While there was no jackpot winner in Friday night’s drawing, Illinois players won more than 508,700 prizes, ranging from $2 to $1,000,000.
Illinois residents 18 and older can purchase Mega Millions and all of the Illinois Lottery’s draw-based game tickets by using the Illinois Lottery’s mobile app. The free app (the first of its kind in the United States) is available for download on iOS and Android devices and offers any Illinois adult the chance to purchase lottery tickets on their smartphone. Players can also purchase their tickets online at illinoislottery.com and at more than 7,600 retailers statewide.
QUICK MEGA MILLIONS FACTS
- Current jackpot is $1.6 billion; cash option of $905 million
- Jackpots start at $40 million
- Overall odds of winning the jackpot 1:302,575,350
- Drawings are at 10 p.m. (CT) every Tuesday and Friday, and ticket sales close at 9:45 p.m. on nights before the draw
About the Illinois Lottery:
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $20 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.
