A holiday payout you can’t ignore!
A Georgia Mega Millions player just snagged an estimated $980 million jackpot — the biggest win in the state’s history — finally breaking the game’s longest streak without a grand-prize winner.
The lucky winning numbers were 1, 8, 11, 12 and 57 — with the gold Mega Ball coming in at 7.
The lucky ticket was sold at a Publix supermarket in Newnan, Georgia — about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta.
“We are thrilled to congratulate the largest winner in our state’s history,” Georgia Lottery President and CEO Gretchen Corbin said in a press release.
A glimpse at a July 26, 2022 Mega Millions ticket purchased in New York. Paul Martinka
Friday’s winner can choose between the $980 million jackpot paid out over 30 years or a one-time lump sum estimated at $452.2 million. In Georgia, Mega Millions winners have 180 days from the drawing date to claim their prize.
A Michigan player hit $3 million Friday by matching all five white balls and using the 3X multiplier.
It’s the biggest lottery jackpot ever claimed in the Peach State, topping the $478 million Powerball prize won by an anonymous player on October 23, 2024.
The winning ticket was sold at a Publix in Newnan, Georgia, about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta. Google Maps
Bronx resident Harris Heyward Jr. bought a Mega Millions ticket at the V & C Taneja convenience store in Yonkers on November 5, 2025. Georgett Roberts
Georgia now boasts 17 Mega Millions winners, ending an eight-year stretch without a grand-prize winner in the state.
In January 2017, ADirectConnection LLC claimed their $83 million jackpot from the November 18, 2016 drawing.
The Georgia ticket holder, who has not yet been identified, is the first Mega Millions player to hit all six numbers since an anonymous man in Virginia won a $348 million jackpot on June 27.
Before this win, the jackpot had climbed through 39 straight drawings with no winner.
At $980 million, this jackpot ranks as the eighth-largest in Mega Millions’ 29-year history, surpassing the $810 million prize claimed at a Texas gas station on September 10, 2024.
Friday’s win marks the biggest prize since the game’s historic revamp in April, when ticket prices jumped from $2 to $5.
The revamp, promoted as "bigger and better," was designed to offer larger prizes for non-jackpot winners, improve the odds of hitting the jackpot, and raise the starting jackpot from $20 million to $50 million.
In the revamped game, your chances of hitting the jackpot are just 1 in 290,472,336 — making every win truly extraordinary.
Tuesday’s drawing kicks off with the jackpot back at the new $50 million starting pot.
