As buzz builds for $830 million Mega Millions jackpot, here’s how lottery funds are spent

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — As the excitement grows ahead of Tuesday night’s Mega Millions drawing, Khaly Seck is feeling positive.

“This is a big jackpot man. And I want to get it,” said Seck.

A big jackpot translates into big dreams.

“I want to make some investments for a business and buy a house,” said Seck.

“Only three times in the history of the US have we seen a higher jackpot than this,” said Van Denton, the Director of Communications for the North Carolina Education Lottery.

You’ll face long odds to take home the estimated $830 million jackpot — about 1 in 302 million. Interest in the lottery has increased; in the 2020 fiscal year, there was a 5.5% increase in lottery sales, for a total of $3 billion. Last year, there was a 26% increase in lottery sales, up to $3.8 billion.

For the 2021 fiscal year, 64% of the money in the state’s lottery went back toward prizes, 25% towards education, 7% commission to retailers, and 4% for administration.

“What we’re doing is a balancing act of raising money for education and then making sure people have a fun time playing lottery games. So the amount of the prizes has gone up over time, but also the sales have gone up over time and that enabled us to raise more money each year for education. Last year, we raised $936 million for education,” said Denton.

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