Lead: Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing produced no jackpot winner, leaving an $843 million top prize on the line and pushing the advertised jackpot toward an estimated $900 million for the next drawing. The winning numbers for the Nov. 4 drawing were 48, 70, 23, 21 and 16, with the Mega Ball 5. The draw was the 38th since the last jackpot was hit in Virginia on June 27, making this the longest run without a top prize winner in Mega Millions history. The next drawing is set for Tuesday, with a cash option advertised at $415.3 million.
Key Takeaways
- Friday’s advertised jackpot was $843 million; the next estimate is roughly $900 million with a cash option of $415.3 million.
- Winning numbers in the Nov. 4 drawing: 48, 70, 23, 21, 16; Mega Ball: 5.
- This was the 38th consecutive drawing since the last jackpot win on June 27 in Virginia, exceeding the prior record of 37 set Jan. 22, 2021.
- Through this run, Mega Millions reports almost 11.7 million winning tickets across prize tiers, with total prizes exceeding $274 million.
- The Nov. 4 drawing produced 606,046 winning tickets nationally, yielding more than $12.2 million in payouts that night.
- There have been 256 third-tier winners in this streak so far, with prizes between $20,000 and $100,000.
- Mega Millions is sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands; a single play costs $5.
Background
The current Mega Millions jackpot run began after a $348 million jackpot was won in Virginia on June 27; since then, no ticket has matched all six numbers to claim the top prize. That sequence reached 38 drawings as of the Nov. 4 draw, surpassing the previous longest streak of 37 draws that ended with a $1.050 billion win in Michigan on Jan. 22, 2021. Lottery officials note that a rule change last April boosted lower-tier payouts, increasing the frequency and amounts of smaller prizes while the jackpot climbed. Mega Millions is a multi-jurisdictional game played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands; the largest jackpot on record remains the $1.6 billion prize won on Aug. 8, 2023.
State lotteries and the game consortium track both annuity and cash estimates for advertised jackpots; the headline numbers reflect the annuity option paid over 30 years, while cash values are one-time lump-sum offers that are substantially smaller. Ticket sales typically spike as the headline prize grows, a pattern that has driven robust lower-tier prize pools and tens of millions of winning tickets during long runs. The game’s reported overall totals for this run — nearly 11.7 million winning tickets and more than $274 million in prizes distributed — reflect payouts at every tier, from $5 or $10 prizes up to six-figure awards. Those enhancements and the growing publicity around the long streak have kept consumer interest high.
Main Event
The Friday drawing produced no jackpot winner; the sequence of numbers called were 48, 70, 23, 21 and 16, with Mega Ball 5. Because no ticket matched all six numbers, the advertised jackpot rolled again and is now being advertised at roughly $900 million for the upcoming Tuesday drawing. Officials provided the specific cash option for that advertised figure as $415.3 million, which is the lump-sum alternative a winner could choose instead of the 30-year annuity.
According to Mega Millions statements, this was the 38th consecutive drawing since the jackpot was last claimed on June 27 in Virginia, and that marks the longest streak without a top-tier winner since the game launched in 2002. The previous longest streak was 37 drawings, which ended Jan. 22, 2021. Lottery managers emphasize that while the big prize remains uncollected, the total number of winners at lower tiers has grown substantially due to prize-structure changes implemented last April.
On Nov. 4 alone, officials reported 606,046 winning tickets across all prize tiers, totaling more than $12.2 million in nationwide payouts that night. The current run has yielded 256 third-tier prizes ranging from $20,000 to $100,000, along with many smaller prizes. Mega Millions lists the overall odds of winning the jackpot at 1 in 290,472,336, a figure that underscores how rare a top-tier win is despite the large number of lower-tier payouts.
Analysis & Implications
The continuing roll of the Mega Millions jackpot has short-term economic effects and longer-term policy considerations. In the immediate term, rising jackpots typically increase ticket sales, which boosts state lottery revenues that fund education and other programs in participating jurisdictions. That influx can mean millions more dollars for state budgets, but it also concentrates revenue on a small set of high-attention drawings rather than steady, predictable income.
From a consumer-protection perspective, very large jackpots and aggressive publicity can drive riskier play by individuals who may underestimate the long odds; the official 1-in-290,472,336 probability is difficult for the public to contextualize. The April enhancements to lower-tier prizes illustrate one way the game’s administrators have redistributed value: more players win smaller amounts, which may blunt some criticism that the lottery only pays out to an elusive top prize. However, the core math — extremely long odds for the jackpot — remains unchanged.
For the broader market, persistently large jackpots influence retail patterns and secondary betting behavior. Retailers report higher foot traffic and ancillary sales when a jackpot is headline news, and some jurisdictions see spikes in cross-border ticket purchases. Politically, prolonged jackpot runs sometimes reignite debates about lottery advertising, oversight, and the social costs of state-run gambling, especially in periods when large headline prizes draw sustained national attention.
Comparison & Data
| Event | Date | Jackpot (annuity) | Cash option | Consecutive drawings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current run (this report) | Nov. 4, 2025 | $843 million | $415.3 million | 38 |
| Record long run | Jan. 22, 2021 | $1.050 billion | — | 37 |
| Largest jackpot ever | Aug. 8, 2023 | $1.6 billion | — | — |
The table above compares the current run to the previous long streak and the largest prize in the game’s history. These figures show how advertised annuity values differ from cash options and how the number of consecutive drawings without a winner has reached a new high. While annuity and cash values change with market conditions and estimated sales, the headline annuity figures remain the public-facing metric that drives coverage and consumer interest. Readers should note that advertised cash options are updated by the game consortium before each drawing and reflect short-term market valuations.
Reactions & Quotes
Lottery officials highlighted both the continued roll of the jackpot and the volume of smaller winners produced during the run.
“While the jackpot remains elusive, the number of winners — and total prizes won — continues to grow.”
Mega Millions officials (official statement)
This comment came as officials summarized prize distribution across tiers and emphasized that enhancements to lower-tier payouts have increased the number of winners during the streak. The statement framed the long run not only as a jackpot chase but also as a period when more players are receiving payouts at smaller prize levels.
“Through this jackpot run to date, there have been almost 11.7 million winning tickets at all levels.”
Mega Millions officials (official statement)
That figure was provided to highlight the scale of smaller-tier wins generated while the top prize rolled. Officials used it to argue that the structure changes implemented last April have broadened prize distribution despite the absence of a top-tier winner.
“In the Nov. 4 drawing alone, there were 606,046 winning tickets across all prize tiers, for total nationwide winnings of more than $12.2 million.”
Mega Millions officials (drawing report)
Officials released that daily tally alongside the winning numbers to show the nightly impact on players and state payout obligations. The statistic is an immediate data point that accompanies each drawing and helps illustrate how widespread small prizes can be even when the jackpot is not claimed.
Unconfirmed
- The projected $900 million figure for the next drawing is an estimate based on ticket sales and annuity calculations and will be updated officially before the next draw.
- Exact nationwide ticket-sale totals for the Nov. 4 drawing have not been published in full; aggregated prize totals were released but granular sales by state were not yet available.
Bottom Line
The Mega Millions jackpot rolled again on Nov. 4, leaving an $843 million advertised prize unclaimed and pushing estimates for the next drawing toward $900 million with a $415.3 million cash option. While attention naturally focuses on the elusive top prize, the current run has produced millions of smaller winners and hundreds of thousands of nightly payouts, in part because of prize-structure changes made last April.
For players, the odds of winning the jackpot remain extremely long; for states, the publicity and higher sales can mean short-term revenue gains that support public programs. Observers should watch how sales and the consortium’s announcements evolve before the Tuesday draw, and policymakers may revisit messaging and consumer-protection considerations if prolonged high jackpots continue to draw widespread attention.
Sources
- ABC7 Los Angeles (local news report summarizing drawing, Nov. 4, 2025)
- Mega Millions (official game website and press statements)