"Then I'll buy a whole island!" Another US jackpot of more than one billion dollars

In the USA, there is yet another jackpot that is likely to exceed the high mark. Something like this makes the headlines and causes a huge rush for tickets. However, it is no longer unusual for such a large sum to be involved.

DPA

27.12.2024, 17:43

dpa

The moment is likely to pass quickly: a jackpot in a US lottery is expected to exceed one billion dollars. The Mega Millions draw on Friday (today) is worth around 1.15 billion dollars. Many people are not left cold when a number turns out to be one dollar higher than 999,999,999, even if other jackpots in the USA have already had a ten-digit value.

"The question that arises is: "What happens when a billion dollars becomes routine and people no longer care?" said the author of the book "For a Dollar and a Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America", Jonathan D. Cohen.

"Lotteries were seen as budget miracles"

In his book from 2022, Cohen writes that lotteries have been around for more than 4,000 years. In ancient Rome, emperors and nobles are said to have organized draws at dinner parties and handed out prizes that included everything from terracotta vases to enslaved people. In Europe in the 15th century, lotteries are said to have been used to finance the construction of fortresses. In the American colonies, lotteries were commonly used to finance the rebellion against Great Britain. Cohen writes in his book that former US President Thomas Jefferson authorized lotteries. He justified this by saying that they were tantamount to a tax "imposed only on volunteers".

Lotteries are said to have lost popularity in the USA in the 19th century due to concerns about fraud, mismanagement and consequences for the poor. From the 1960s onwards, lotteries were legalized in US states in order to cope with financial shortages without raising taxes. "Lotteries were seen as a budget miracle, an opportunity for states to conjure up revenue seemingly out of thin air," reports Cohen.

Just buy a Major League Baseball team

Mega Millions was founded in 1996. Back then, it was still called "The Big Game". Only six US states were involved. Mega Millions was designed to compete with the Powerball lottery, which at the time was represented in 20 US states and the District of Columbia. The first payout in "The Big Game" amounted to five million dollars. Measured against inflation, the value today would be almost twice as high.

If you take the winnings from Friday's Mega Millions jackpot before deducting the taxes due, you could theoretically buy a Major League Baseball team with it - perhaps the Miami Marlins: the US magazine "Forbes" recently put the value of this team at one billion dollars. The jackpot can also be compared with the income from Taylor Swift's concert tour at the end of 2023. Her "Eras Tour" was the first tour to bring in more than one billion dollars after more than four million tickets were sold. By the end of the concert series on December 8, 2024, Swift is expected to have earned more than two billion dollars in total, according to Pollstar magazine.

Chances of winning continue to increase

Today, the Mega Millions and Powerball lotteries are available in 45 US states and in the capital Washington, as well as in the US Virgin Islands. Powerball can also be played in the US territory of Puerto Rico.

In April, the ticket price for Mega Millions will rise from two to five dollars. The argument is that this will increase the chances of winning the jackpot and that there will be more frequent huge prizes and even bigger payouts.

Games of chance with huge payouts are generally more popular, even if the chances of winning decrease. Larger jackpots also attract more media attention and increased ticket sales, as well as attracting new players, according to Cohen. Lottery organizers have ensured that the chances of winning are lower due to a larger number of possible numbers, said Cohen. This makes it more difficult to win the lottery, resulting in even higher prizes.