Powerball, Mega Millions and the $1 billion jackpot Christmas connection

, Florida TodayMay 5, 2026

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Powerball, Mega Millions and the $1 billion jackpot Christmas connection

Edwin Castro of California, who won $2.04 billion Powerball lottery Nov. 7, 2022, opted for the lump sum, which was just shy of $1 billion.
A Kroger in Michigan sold winning lottery ticket worth more than $1 billion.
2 Publix stores in Florida and 1 in Georgia sold Powerball and Mega Millions lottery tickets worth almost $1 billion or more.
2025 Christmas Eve Powerball winner in Arkansas can collect a whopping $1.817 billion.

For the third year in a row, Powerball and Mega Millions helped make the holiday season a memorable one.

In fact, the two biggest lottery games in the nation have (coincidental) ties to Christmas when it comes to a few of their billion-dollar lottery jackpots. As of Dec. 31, 2025, Powerball and Mega Millions have reached or surpassed $1 billion a whopping 14 times since 2016. Players have seen the bulk of those billion-dollar prizes rise between 2022 and 2025 (see below).

While $1 billion is a lot of money, Powerball once hit $2 billion. So far, it happened one time, in November 2022 with Edwin Castro of Altadena, California, who is the largest lottery winner in U.S. history with his epic Powerball win. His particular lottery story has ties to another holiday, Valentine’s Day, but that’s another story.

Here’s a recap of how a few Powerball and Mega Millions billion-dollar lottery jackpots have ties to Christmas.

The summer of 2023 was mega-exciting for Mega Millions players: A single ticket was purchased at a Publix in Neptune Beach, Florida, for the Aug. 8, 2023, drawing. The $1.58 billion winner claimed the prize Sept. 25, 2023, and the Florida Lottery announced the winner — Saltines Holdings LLC of Miami — on Dec. 27, 2023, two days after Christmas. Florida Lottery rules state the “names of lottery winners claiming prizes of $250,000 or greater will be temporarily exempt from public disclosure for 90 days from the date the prize is claimed, unless otherwise waived by the winner.” So while the winner(s) knew about the billion-dollar prize, everyone else found out during the 2023 holiday season. The Publix store near Jacksonville collected a $100,000 bonus commission. It was the second time a beachside Publix store in Florida sold a billion-dollar lottery ticket — for $1.58 billion (see below).
The spring of 2024 was mega-exciting for Mega Millions players: A single ticket from Neptune, New Jersey, claimed the grand prize in the March 26, 2024, Mega Millions drawing for $1.128 billion. The winner, who chose to remain anonymous, finally came forward a day before the 2024 Christmas Eve holiday. The winning ticket was purchased at the Neptune Township ShopRite, the New Jersey Lottery reported. According to a Dec. 23, 2024, story in the Asbury Park Press, a USA TODAY Network newspaper, ShopRite in Neptune received a $30,000 lottery bonus commission. Richard Saker, CEO and president of Saker ShopRites, told app.com in a prepared statement: “ShopRite congratulates the lucky $1.13 billion Mega Millions winner and wishes them all the best on this incredible life-changing event. To pay the good will forward, Saker ShopRites and the ShopRite of Neptune donated the store’s $30,000 lottery bonus commission to Fulfill Food Bank in Neptune.”
The winter of 2024 was mega-exciting for Mega Millions players: In 2024, after three months of Mega Millions rollovers — from Sept. 13, 2024, a Friday the 13th, to Dec. 24, 2024, or Christmas Eve — the grand prize grew from $20 million to a whopping $970 million. A Christmas Eve rollover led to the $1.22 billion Mega Millions drawing for Dec. 27, 2024. A single ticket in California purchased just after Christmas and Hanukkah correctly matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball. Months later, the winner was revealed on the luckiest holiday of all: St. Patrick’s Day 2025. Rosemary Casarotti, who lives in a small town in California, collected the grand prize, which had ballooned to $1.269 billion after final ticket sales, according to California Lottery officials. Casarotti opted for the lump sum, valued at more than $571 million less federal taxes. The ticket was sold at a Circle K in Cottonwood, California. The convenience store in Shasta County received a $1,000,000 bonus.
The fall and winter of 2025 saw a trifecta of lottery frenzies, ending with an exciting lottery streak for Powerball players: In 2025, after three months of Powerball rollovers — from Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 to Dec. 24, 2025, or Christmas Eve, almost a near repeat of the 2024 holiday season Mega Millions lottery streak (see above) — the holiday drawing was for a whopping $1.7 billion. In the early hours of the 2025 Christmas holiday, Powerball officials and the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery reported one ticket purchased in the Natural State was worth $1.817 billion, the second-highest lottery prize in U.S. history. The winning Powerball ticket was purchased from a Murphy USA gas station at the Walmart Supercenter in Cabot, Arkansas. As of Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, or New Year’s Eve, it was not known who won the $1.817 billion Powerball grand prize. The “trifecta” of lottery frenzies refers to the $1.787 billion Powerball drawing won Sept. 6, 2025, followed by the near-$1 billion Mega Millions drawing ($983 million from a Publix in Newnan, Georgia) won Nov. 14, 2025, followed by the 2025 Christmas Eve Powerball win in Arkansas. As of Dec. 31, 2025, the $1.787 billion winners have come forward and collected their windfall, but not the Georgia Mega Millions winner or the Arkansas Powerball winner.

Photos of Powerball and Mega Millions billion-dollar lottery winners and the stores that sold the tickets

When did lotto jackpots hit $1 billion for Mega Millions and Powerball? Biggest lottery prizes in US history

As of Dec. 31, 2025, there have been 14 lottery jackpots that have reached or surpassed $1 billion. Only once has a jackpot surpassed $2 billion. These are the biggest lottery jackpots in U.S. history.

$2.04 billion Powerball prize, Nov. 7, 2022, Edwin Castro of Altadena, California
$1.817 billion Powerball prize, Dec. 24, 2025, the Christmas Eve holiday: Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, Arkansas
$1.787 billion Powerball prize, Sept. 6, 2025, anonymous winner in St. Louis, Missouri, and Seven Bridges Revocable Trust of Fredericksburg, Texas
$1.73 billion Powerball prize, Oct. 11, 2023, Theodorus Struyck of California (ticket purchased at Midway Market in California)
$1.586 billion Powerball prize, Jan. 13, 2016, Marvin and Mae Acosta of California, Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt of Melbourne Beach, Florida, and John and Lisa Robinson of Munford, Tennessee
$1.58 billion Mega Millions prize, Aug. 8, 2023, Saltines Holdings LLC of Miami, Florida
$1.537 billion Mega Millions prize, Oct. 23, 2018, won by an anonymous player in South Carolina
$1.348 billion Mega Millions prize, Jan. 13, 2023, LaKoma Island Investments, LLC, with the ticket purchased in Lebanon, Maine
$1.337 billion Mega Millions prize, July 29, 2022, won by an anonymous partnership with a ticket purchased in Des Plaines, Illinois
$1.326 billion Powerball prize, April 6, 2024, Cheng and Duanpen Saephan and Laiza Chao of Oregon
$1.269 billion Mega Millions, Dec. 27, 2024, Rosemary Casarotti of California
$1.128 billion Mega Millions prize, March 26, 2024, won by an anonymous winner in New Jersey with the ticket purchased at ShopRite Liquor No. 781 in Neptune Township, New Jersey
$1.08 billion Powerball prize, July 19, 2023, Yanira Alvarez of California
$1.05 billion Mega Millions prize, Jan. 22, 2021, won by the Wolverine FLL Club of Oakland County, Michigan

Sangalang is a lead digital producer for the USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.

This content is sourced from www.floridatoday.com and is shared for informational purposes only.

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