Mega Millions Sales Down 25% A Year After 4X Price Increase To $5
Lottery officials said jackpots would get hire faster! That isn’t happening and that there would be billion dollar jackpots. That hasn’t happened either. It did get up to 980 million in November 2025.
“Mega Millions has faced a 23% to 28% drop in ticket sales after a format switch increased the price from $2 to $5, driving away casual players due to lower jackpots and minimal payouts.
State-specific data from Massachusetts confirmed a 24% to 25% slump in sales. In New York, drawing sales plummeted from roughly 1.9 million tickets to 560,000 tickets.
Because ticket costs quintupled from the original $1 game era, far fewer players are buying multiple tickets. This drop in volume means fewer total tickets are sold per drawing, creating a mathematical feedback loop: lower ticket sales mean a decreased statistical likelihood of anyone hitting the jackpot, causing the prize pool to grow at an extremely slow rate during its initial weeks.
Community discussions across lottery forums reveal that many former regular players are now boycotting the game or heavily reducing their play. Players frequently complain that the tickets feel like an unjustified "idiot tax" and note that they have redirected their disposable income to purchase Powerball or Multi-Match tickets instead.”
Despite the slump, organizers adjusted the game by removing a gold ball to create slightly better overall odds and raised the minimum payout to $10”
Mega Millions isn’t even a thought to me with the price of the tickets if it’s not a huge jackpot. $5 is $5 super lotto tickets with better odds and 2 Powerball tickets. I know they’re not making the money they thought. The economy is terrible!