© 2023 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Mega Millions Jackpot Grows To Record $476 Million

If this blogger's photo isn't on The Two-Way next Monday, assume it's because he's gotten very lucky and is headed for some exotic location:

Friday's jackpot will be a record $476 million. The previous high was $390 million, in 2007.

Last night, as the Philadelphia Inquirer recounts, no ticket matched all six numbers in the lottery's drawing. So no one won a jackpot that was already a tidy $363 million.

Now, thanks to ticket sales that are projected to be very strong, game officials say Friday's drawing will be worth that record $476 million. Or, $341 million if you go with the lump sump cash option. (Those are pre-tax figures, of course.)

We know the odds are long — about 1 in 176 million that a ticket will be the big winner. And we don't want to encourage reckless gambling. But, we wonder:

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and powerful storytelling.
Your donation helps make nonprofit journalism available for everyone.