Mega Millions to raise ticket cost, jackpot size
State lottery hopes changes lift sales
Mega Millions — the seconddraw game of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery — will change at the end of October, with the cost of a ticket increasing from $1 to $2 and the jackpot starting at $40 million, more than double the current amount.
The first drawing for the overhauled Mega Millions will be Oct. 31, the lottery said in a news release. Drawings are held each Tuesday and Friday. The game is offered in 44 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C.
Other changes for Mega Millions players include better odds of winning $1 million, higher average jackpots and faster-growing jackpots with $5 million minimum rolls, according to the lottery.
Mega Millions’ ticket revenue has lagged behind that of its competitor, Powerball, in the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery over the past eight fiscal years, according to state records.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Powerball’s ticket revenue totaled about $32.8 million and Mega Millions’ ticket revenue totaled about $14.3 million, lottery records show. Records indicate that the lottery’s draw game ticket revenue in fiscal 2017 included $12.3 million for Fast Play, $7.1 million for Cash 3, $7 million for the Natural State Jackpot, $4.2 million for Cash 4 and $2.9 million for Lucky for Life.
While the Arkansas Lottery’s draw game ticket revenue totaled $80.7 million, it pales in comparison to the scratch-off ticket revenue of $368.4 million, according to the agency’s fiscal 2017 report. Total revenue of $449.9 million included fees paid by more than 1,900 retailers. The lottery raised $85.2 million for college scholarships in the same period.
In fiscal 2017, the state lottery had a Mega Millions jackpot winner. Eliberto Cantu of Abernathy, Texas, bought the winning ticket for the $177 million Mega Millions jackpot March 31. The ticket was sold the day before at a Valero convenience store in Stuttgart.
Lottery Director Bishop Woosley said lottery officials didn’t factor the coming Mega Millions game changes into their fiscal 2018 projection for revenue of $459 million and net proceeds for college scholarships of $83.6 million. The new fiscal year started July 1.
“I am hopeful the changes will increase our sales and the amount we are able to put towards proceeds,” he said in a written statement. “[G]enerally speaking the lottery makes approximately 40-42 cents from each Powerball or Mega Millions ticket sold. We make less on instant tickets. The profit differs for each price point on instants.”