Sales are soaring to a new Mega Millions record for Friday night's drawing.
As of 12:45 p.m. on Friday the multi-state lottery, which includes ticket sales in Georgia and Florida, was at an estimated $1 billion and climbing, which is a new record for the game.
As big as tonight's drawing will be, it won't break the U.S. record that a 2016 Powerball drawing set. Three winning tickets were sold then for a $1.59 billion drawing.
But if no one wins Friday night, it could end up shattering even the 2016 Powerball record.
Don’t count on making a deposit anywhere close to $1 billion if you win though.
The Associated Press reports nearly all winners take the cash option, which was about $548 million as of Friday morning. After federal taxes and state deductions, which vary across the country, winners will generally end up with around half that amount.
Mega Millions tickets cost $2. The lottery is played in 44 states along with the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The results of Friday's Mega Millions drawing will be posted Saturday morning on WJCT's lottery numbers page.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
