$1.28B jackpot ticket sold in Ill.
Lottery totals, including the Mega Millions lottery, are displayed outside a convenience store, Friday, July 29, 2022, in Huntington Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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UPDATED 7:15 AM PT – Monday, August 1, 2022
The winning ticket for the second largest jackpot in Mega Millions history is confirmed to have been purchased. After the results of Friday night’s lottery draw, reports came in of a winning ticket having been bought in a suburb of Chicago.
The winner has a choice of taking a lump sum payment that would total around $740 million or an annuity payment, which would pay the entire amount over a 30-year period. The winner has not come forward yet, but the ticket was confirmed to have been purchased at a gas station in Des Plaines.
“We had a total of little bit over $71 million in sales and roughly half of that will go towards paying all of the prizes associated with those tickets,” said Harold Mays, Director of Illinois Lottery. “And that’s roughly $26 million that will come back to Illinois to help fund schools, to the common school fund. So, it’s a significant sort of impact from that perspective.”
???? ???? ???? Winner Alert: Mega Millions® players, check your ticket! A lucky winner won $1,280,000,000! If you purchased your ticket from Speedway in Des Plaines, IL, you could be the winner! https://t.co/AidZEHZGHc pic.twitter.com/Jus6gwQTMY
— Illinois Lottery (@IllinoisLottery) July 30, 2022
The winner has 12-months from the day of the drawing to claim their prize. However, they only have 60 days from the day of the drawing to choose whether or not they want to take the cash option or not.