CHICAGO – Due to high sales, the jackpot from last night’s Mega Millions drawing has increased to $1.337 billion.
One lucky Illinois Lottery player has scooped the top prize. The winning ticket was purchased at the Speedway at 885 E Touhy Ave, Des Plaines, IL 60018.
This morning the Illinois Lottery Director, Harold Mays answered questions about this historic win.
“This is the largest lottery prize ever won in Illinois, and the second largest Mega Millions prize ever won,” said Director Mays.
“We have not heard from the winner yet. We don’t know whether or not they’re aware they’ve won this incredible prize. So we’re telling all of our players – check your tickets.”
The jackpot has been rolling since April 16, 2022, culminating in last night’s historic win in Illinois.
“Millions of people across the country had tickets for the draw. We’re thrilled that an Illinois Lottery player won this prize, and that one of our local retailers sold the winning ticket – meaning they get a cash bonus of $500,000.”
The Illinois Lottery encourages the winner to sign the back of the ticket, seek professional and legal advice, then make an appointment with the Illinois Lottery to claim their prize.
While the winner has 12 months from the date of the draw to claim their prize, they only have 60 days from the date of the draw to choose the cash option or annual payments. For more information, see the Illinois Lottery Winners’ Handbook
Excluding the jackpot, in total, over 390,000 Illinois Lottery players won prizes totalling more than $2.5 million
The Illinois Lottery exists to generate essential funding for K-12 education across the State. Approximately 23 cents of every dollar spent on the lottery is returned to education and good causes.
Press conference video footage courtesy of Fox 32 News Chicago: https://youtu.be/o9vvoPPBK6k
About the Illinois Lottery:
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $23 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools and special causes like Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS and Alzheimer’s research, Special Olympics, police memorials and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit illinoislottery.com.
