If holiday spending got a little out of hand, you could try winning a massive lottery jackpot to offset the cost of Christmas.
The Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $1 billion.
Friday’s drawing will be an estimated $1.15 billion, The Associated Press reported.
The huge jackpot came before the Mega Millions’ planned increase in cost from $2 a ticket to $5 a ticket which starts in April. Lottery officials said the per-ticket increase will improve the jackpot odds, make giant jackpots more common and have larger payouts.
If someone wins and chooses the lump sum, they will get about $516.1 million after taxes. It will also be the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history, USA Today reported.
According to officials with the Mega Millions lottery, 2024 had the fewest jackpot winners with only three so far. The last was in Texas on Sept. 10 with a $522 million jackpot.
The Mega Millions drawing will happen Friday, Dec. 27 at 11 p.m. ET.
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