The Mega Millions prize rises to  billion ahead of the Christmas Eve drawing

The Mega Millions prize rises to $1 billion ahead of the Christmas Eve drawing

The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to $1 billion ahead of the Christmas Eve drawing.

Lottery officials announced the historic prize in a press release issued on Tuesday, December 24, the day of the grand drawing. The winner(s) could walk away with $448.8 million if they choose the cash option.

“Can you imagine going to bed on December 25th and then waking up, checking your ticket and realizing you just won a $1 billion jackpot?” said Joshua Johnston, executive director of Mega Millions Consortium, in a statement.

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This is the seventh time in Mega Millions history that the jackpot has exceeded the billion-dollar mark, lottery officials said. And according to NBC News, if anyone wins, it would be the biggest prize won in December.

The Mega Millions jackpot has been growing since September 10th, when the then prize of $810 million was won in Texas. Since then and on Christmas Eve there have been 29 drawings, but no one has won the grand prize.

“The dream of receiving this amount of money is just so much fun, especially around the holidays when there is a touch of magic in the air,” Johnson said in his statement.

The Christmas Eve Mega Millions drawing will take place at 11:00 p.m. ET. The drawing video “will be available via the Mega Millions website shortly after television broadcast.” Tickets for the game are $2 each.

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