Lottery and Powerball prizes totaling thousands remain unclaimed in Minnesota

The Brief

• Several $50,000 lottery prizes in Minnesota remain unclaimed from drawings as far back as December 2025.

• Players have one year to claim lottery prizes, and missing the deadline means the money goes to state programs.

• More than $16 million in lottery winnings went unclaimed in 2025 alone.

(FOX 9) – Some Minnesotans could be sitting on big lottery wins and not even know it.

Unclaimed lottery prizes in Minnesota

What we know

The Minnesota Lottery says two $50,000 Minnesota Millionaire Raffle tickets from Jan. 1, 2026, and three $50,000 Powerball tickets sold between December 2025 and June 3, 2026, are all still waiting for winners to come forward.

Under Minnesota’s rules, players have one year from the drawing date to claim their prize. Prizes over $50,000 must be claimed in person at the Minnesota Lottery headquarters in Roseville, while prizes of $50,000 and under can be claimed by mail or at any regional office.

Why you should care

Officials say that tickets can end up being forgotten in wallets or lost altogether, so they urge people who have played in the past to double-check their tickets before time runs out.

However, if lottery prizes go unclaimed, the money doesn’t just disappear. For scratch games and certain draw games, officials say that the unclaimed cash goes to Minnesota’s General Fund. For Powerball and Mega Millions, unclaimed jackpot money is returned to participating states based on their share of the prize pool.

In 2025, more than $16 million in Minnesota Lottery prizes went unclaimed.

The backstory

Since 1990, the lottery has generated $4.3 billion for state programs, with $1.8 billion supporting environmental efforts and $2.2 billion going toward education, public safety and health and human services.

The Source

Information provided by Minnesota Lottery officials.