Friday will find people lining up across the country at least in 44 states plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands to purchase what they hope is the winning numbers for Friday’s largest record Mega Millions jackpot, which according to CBS News has reached an estimated $1 billion.
The average American spend about “$223 per year on lottery tickets,” this figure based on a survey from LENDedu, via the linked CBS News article.
The increase comes as Tuesday’s drawing found no Mega winner, with it’s jackpot of $667 million, by Wednesday morning the jackpot had grown to almost $900 million dollars.
ABC News reported that, “a single winner,” who decides to take the cash payment versus annual payments, “would receive about $565.6 million.”
In a statement Friday Mega Millions Lead Director and the Director of Maryland Lottery and Gaming, via ABC News said, “This is truly uncharted territory, and it’s exciting to see people across the country buying their tickets and joining in the fun. Hitting the $1 billion mark for the first time is historic, and we can’t wait to meet the winner s who will share in that history.”
Twitter of course has joined in the Mega Million fever
Friday nights drawing happens at 11 p.m. eastern, 10 p.m. central time, 9 p.m. mountain time and 8 p.m. pacific time.
Of course the big burning question is if you won the Mega Millions, what would you do?
Authors note: The post was written 2:15 p.m. eastern time, the true jackpot is subject to change as more tickets are purchased.
