AUSTIN — Texas Lottery® players have more than a billion reasons to dream big this weekend, with the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots combining for over $1.19 billion. The weekend excitement kicks off tonight, July 17 – coinciding with National Lottery Day – with an estimated annuitized Mega Millions jackpot of $672 million, offering a cash value option of $293.3 million. The momentum continues into the Saturday, July 18 Powerball drawing which has a Grand Prize set at an estimated annuitized $526 million, with a cash value of $233.5 million. The jackpot prizes are the largest offered by each game so far in 2026.
“It’s a thrilling weekend for our players, as National Lottery Day arrives with two giant jackpots to play for,” said Courtney Arbour, executive director of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which oversees the Texas Lottery. “The excitement surrounding these multi-state games is creating extra buzz at retail locations across the state and boosting sales for both games in Texas, which directly impact the Texas Lottery’s primary mission of generating vital revenue for Texas public education. As the anticipation builds for the weekend’s drawings, we wish all Texas players good luck and remind everyone to play responsibly. It only takes one ticket to win.”
Tonight’s Mega Millions drawing will be the 35th in the current jackpot run since starting as an estimated annuitized $50 million on March 20. The current jackpot is the 10th largest in game history and the biggest since an estimated $983 million jackpot was won in Georgia for the Nov. 14, 2025 drawing. Texas has had 15 Mega Millions jackpot prize winners since it joined the game in 2003, most recently on Sept. 10, 2024. For that drawing, The Sol Living Trust, of Sugar Land, claimed the cash value option for the estimated annuitized $810 million jackpot prize. Ticket sales for tonight’s Mega Millions drawing will close at 9:45 p.m. CT. If there is no jackpot winner tonight, the prize will roll to an estimated $707 million for the drawing on Tuesday, July 21.
Saturday’s Powerball drawing marks the 33rd drawing in its current jackpot run. Since joining the game in 2010, Texas has had four jackpot winners, including two within the last year. In September 2025, the Seven Bridges Revocable Trust, of Fredericksburg claimed a share of the estimated $1.8 billion Grand Prize – the second-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history – for the Sept. 6, 2025 drawing. Most recently, a Leander resident shared with an out-of-state winner the estimated annuitized $20 million Grand Prize that was advertised for the May 2 drawing. Powerball ticket sales for the next drawing close at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 18. If no one matches all six numbers tomorrow night, the jackpot will roll to an estimated $544 million for the Monday, July 20 drawing. Saturday’s drawing will be one of the last before Powerball ticket sales begin in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, July 21 for the Wednesday, July 22 drawing. According to the Multi-State Lottery Association, the expansion could lead to larger and faster-growing jackpots, while the game’s $2 ticket price and jackpot odds remain unchanged.
Mega Millions and Powerball tickets are available at more than 19,000 Texas Lottery retailers statewide. Retailers who sell a jackpot-winning ticket for either game may be eligible for a $250,000 bonus under the Texas Lottery’s Retailer Bonus Program.
Friday, July 17, marks National Lottery Day, an annual observance recognizing the contributions lotteries in North America make to the communities they serve through support for public education, local businesses and other beneficiary programs. In fiscal year 2025, U.S. lotteries generated sales of over $109.3 billion, resulting in more than $28.4 billion for their beneficiaries.
