Mega Millions is changing everything about itself. Here’s what to know

Mega Millions is rolling out major changes — including a 150% price increase — this week, as the multi-state lottery game aims to improve odds and dish out bigger jackpots.

Mega Millions is getting a makeover — including more than doubling the price of a ticket — as the multi-state lottery game aims to improve players’ odds and dish out bigger jackpots. The lottery, which is available to play in 45 states plus Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands, announced last year that changes were coming in April. Since the lottery launched in 2002, seven winners have won billion-plus jackpots — most recently in December, when a California resident won a $1.26 billion prize (or about $550 million in cash). But “beyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that’s exactly what this new game delivers,” said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, in a press release. Now the big game, with drawings every Tuesday and Friday at 11 pm ET, is getting some major changes. Arguably the biggest change is the price of a ticket, which now costs $5 — a large jump from $2. This is only the second price increase in the game’s 23 years, following 2017 when the price doubled to $2 from $1.