Mega Millions jackpot hits $785 million in time for the first drawing of 2023

The Mega Millions jackpot hits $785 million, becoming only its fourth jackpot to surpass $700 million.

After no ticket corresponded to the six numbers drawn Friday, the jackpot will proceed to the next ticket drawing Tuesday. Friday's drawing saw over 2.7 million winning tickets with payouts from $2 to $1 million.

"There's plenty of lottery excitement as the year 2023 gets underway, thanks to a whopping Mega Millions® jackpot set for next Tuesday, January 3!" Mega Millions said in a press release Saturday.

All Mega Millions jackpots that surpassed $700 million have continued to grow past $1 billion, according to Mega Millions. The record Mega Millions jackpot was more than $1.5 billion won in South Carolina in 2018, while the largest jackpot ever won in the U.S. was Powerball's $2.04 billion. That was claimed in California in November.

The most recent Mega Millions jackpot that surpassed $1 billion was in July, with a winning ticket from Illinois.

Mega Millions tickets cost $2.00 per play, and participants pick six numbers in hopes that the winning ticket is a match.

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