Mega Millions lottery prizes and jackpots are increasing next year

Michelle Majocha thinks there's a pretty good chance that doubling the cost of the Mega Millions lottery ticket from $2 to $5 next April won't increase sales of a lottery game that offers a million-dollar jackpot.

When it was announced this week that the consortium that runs the Mega Millions drawing in 45 states would increase prizes for a chance to win millions, Majocha said she knew from her 29 years at Community Market in Harrison that other price increases drew complaints.

“People didn't like it when the Cash 5 went up. People don’t like paying the $2 for it,” said Mojcha, a receptionist who sells lottery tickets.

Although it's been about a year since the Pennsylvania Lottery increased the price of the Cash 5 ticket, Majocha said some customers still told her they wouldn't buy it because of the added cost.

The Mega Millions Consortium said in a statement that increasing ticket prices will result in “better odds of winning jackpots, more frequent larger jackpots, larger starting pots and faster growing jackpots.”

While the jackpot in Tuesday's drawing reached a life-changing $129 million for the winner, it is still far less than the $1.6 billion jackpot won in August 2023, according to the Mega Millions website. According to Mega Millions officials, more than 1,200 players have become millionaires since 2017 – an average of three millionaires per week.

Jamie Bazala is a lottery player five days a week at the Shop 'n Save supermarket on East Pittsburgh Street in Greensburg.

She spends $2 a day, alternating between buying Mega Millions and Powerball tickets for herself and her husband. She buys the same number of tickets for her 23-year-old son and his fiancée.

“I do it religiously,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if (the jackpot) is high or low.”

But that could change when the Mega Millions price increase comes into effect.

“I think it’s stupid,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll play it all the time.”

Mary Fox of Hempfield joined the conversation at the supermarket and said she typically buys a Mega Millions ticket twice a week. But she believes that if she has to pay $5, she will be less likely to do so.

Now she pays $3 per ticket and spends an extra dollar on the Megaplier feature, which at least doubles non-jackpot winnings.

According to the Mega Millions Consortium, the game overhaul coming in April will include a built-in multiplier for every game that will automatically boost any non-jackpot win.

At the Greensburg News booth, owner Allan Leydic predicted the price increase would not be well received. Ticket buyers have already asked him whether the $1 single-number Megaplier will also go up in price, but the Mega Millions consortium has kept them in the dark.

“People will be upset about it. First of all, it (the price increase) will hurt us because they don’t want to pay it,” Lydic said.

But after a while, customers will act as if the Mega Millions have always cost $5, Lydic said.

At Graft Oil Co.'s Spee-D Mart in Irwin, assistant manager Glenda Uranker didn't think the price would deter Mega Millions players.

“The Power Ball went up in price and people still bought it. It’s not a lot more money,” Uranker said.

Austin Seger, an employee at Myrna's Brew'ry Outlet in New Kensington, was shocked to learn of the price increase.

“That’s now more than double the price,” said Seger.

The promised higher odds and bigger jackpots may be incentive enough to keep customers interested, but Seger will believe it when he sees it.

Seger said he only buys Mega Millions tickets when the jackpots are really big. Unsurprisingly, Mega Millions in-store sales skyrocket when jackpots skyrocket.

“I think it might scare some people away,” Seger said. “But on the other hand, if the prizes are higher and the chances of winning are higher, then maybe people will go for it. My first reaction is that it will turn people away.”

Roger Richey, an employee at the Sunoco store on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Oak Street in Irwin, said people have complained about it, but it won't stop them.

“People complain about scratch cards when they're $20 or $30, but you know they're going to buy them,” Richey said.

Dean Bretzel of Salem, who normally buys a Mega Millions ticket twice a week, stopped at Hempfield's Beer Arena on Tuesday to make his purchase.

He said the planned increase in ticket price was in line with the cost of other items, noting: “Everything else has gone up.”

Once tickets become more expensive, he said, he could wait to play until the jackpot was high.

But he said: “I think if you want to win you have to spend the money to play it.”