COTTONWOOD, Calif. – A single ticket sold in Northern California matched all six numbers – white balls 3, 7, 37, 49, 55 and Mega Ball 6 – to win the $1.22 billion jackpot in Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing, according to lottery officials.
The life-changing ticket was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas at 3505 Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, a small town located roughly 145 miles north of Sacramento in Shasta County, the California Lottery said on its website.
“What an amazing present this holiday season,” Joshua Johnston, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement. “At an incredibly special time of year, this is both an incredibly special moment for our winner, and for all the great organizations and causes that benefit from lottery ticket sales around the country.”
The jackpot is the fifth-largest in the game’s history and the seventh to exceed $1 billion. Prior to the drawing, no California Lottery player had ever won a Mega Millions jackpot this large.
Lottery officials said there were more than 31.4 million winning tickets across all prize tiers during the 31-drawing run, which began after the last jackpot – $810 million – was won in Texas on Sept. 10.
On Friday, five of those tickets matched the five white balls to win the second-tier prize. Two were sold in California – Roseville and San Bernardino – and one each in Arizona, Missouri and Texas. Another 157 tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the third-tier prize.
The year is on track to end with just four Mega Millions jackpot winners, the lowest since the game began in 2002, according to lottery officials. In addition to big wins in California and Texas, $552 million went to an Illinois online player on June 4 and an astounding $1.128 billion prize was won in New Jersey on March 26.
The jackpot for the next drawing on Tuesday resets to its current starting value of $20 million. Lottery officials said there has never been a Mega Millions jackpot winner on New Year’s Eve.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
