It may seem impossible that Americans so concerned about rising grocery prices would forget about their winning lottery tickets worth millions and, in one case, an unclaimed $1.1 billion Mega Millions jackpot owed to a New Jerseyan. However, lottery officials tell Bonus that the mental lapse is the primary reason that winners never come forward or wait until the last minute to do so.
That’s especially surprising, considering the time many lottery players invest. For instance, before the Sept. 21 Powerball drawing for a $195 million jackpot, thousands of gamblers visited the Powerball Lottery Generator — Bonus.com page to pick their numbers during the month, analytics showed on Sept. 20.
Still, it happens.
Ewa Swope, a press secretary with the Pennsylvania Lottery, told Bonus on Sept. 19 that the biggest unclaimed jackpot that her lottery has at the moment is a $213.8 million prize from the Aug. 14 Powerball drawing.
Chances are, that winner may still be seeking legal advice before coming forward to claim the jackpot.
However, Swope’s seen other reasons:
In one of the stories, one winner talks about digging through his trash to search for a big winning ticket he threw out, only to find it.
That truth about unclaimed Mega Millions and other lottery tickets seems to contrast with common fears:
- California Lottery customers frequently ask the agency what to do if their tickets are lost or stolen.
- Others fear accidentally washing and drying the paper lottery tickets in the laundry. (This isn’t so much of a worry for iLottery or lottery ticket courier customers.)
- What if the dog eats it? One Oregon couple found out.
$1.1 Billion Mega Millions Jackpot Saga
Bonus asked Mega Millions and New Jersey Lottery officials if the ticket holder for the $1.128 billion Mega Millions jackpot from March 26 had perhaps passed away.
While all interviewed lottery officials declined to list “death” as a possible reason for not claiming large prizes, they did say leaving $1 billion uncollected was unprecedented since the Big Game was renamed Mega Millions in 2002.
Bonus asked Xiamara Garza, a national spokeswoman for Mega Millions, “How many times a year do lottery winnings go unclaimed?”
She responded to Bonus on Sept. 18:
For Mega Millions jackpot prizes specifically, not often.
In August 2023, the $39 million prize that was won by a sole winning ticket in Florida went unclaimed. Prior to that, there hadn’t been an unclaimed Mega Millions jackpot since the early 2000’s. These include:
- 12/24/2002 – New York ($68M)
- 4/25/2003 – New York ($46M)
- 8/1/2006 – New York ($31M)
Stopwatch Halfway Done for New Jerseyan
Garza said states set their own deadlines for ticket expiration. New Jersey is one of the more lenient states, allowing winners to take a year to collect their jackpots.
Missy Gillespie, chief communications officer for the New Jersey Lottery, told Bonus on Sept. 18 that her office will publish a press release next week about the unclaimed $1.128 billion Mega Millions prize. The lottery is trying to find the ticket buyer at ShopRite Liquor #781 in Neptune Township. That player chose white balls 7, 11, 22, 29, and 38, plus the gold Mega Ball 4.
Gillespie explained to Bonus:
The ticket expires on March 26, 2025, but there might be an exception. For example, if the ticket is mailed in and postmarked on the 26.
If the winner never comes forward, the jackpot stays in the New Jersey Lottery’s funds to benefit public workers’ pensions.
So, next week’s press release may have New Jerseyans checking all of their drawers.
Gillespie said:
Regarding why tickets would go unclaimed, there could be a million reasons, but the most likely is that someone bought the ticket and forgot to check it.
Someone is forgetful in Neptune Township? The answer may be clearer on March 26, 2025.
Garza said of this unprecedented time lag to claim the $1.128 billion jackpot:
I’ve included a list below of the other five $1B Mega Millions jackpots and how long it took to claim each one:
- $1.602 billion (Florida, 8/8/23) — About four months
- $1.537 billion (South Carolina, 10/23/18) — About four months
- $1.348 billion (Maine, 1/13/23) — A little more than a month
- $1.337 billion (Illinois, 7/29/22) — A little less than two months
- $1.050 billion (Michigan, 1/22/21) — About a month and a half
Down to the Wire — When Tickets Expire
Hours before an October 26, 2022, winning ticket for a $1.5 million Powerball prize was set to expire on April 24, 2023, the lottery ticket buyer successfully claimed the jackpot from the California Lottery.
The moral to that story is that press releases like the one New Jersey is about to publish can work.
Because Tatiana Tenreyro reported for Parade that the week before the claimant visited the lottery, the agency issued a press release. Then, Californians amplified the message, urging anyone who bought a lottery ticket in Santa Clara to check their pockets before the six months were up.
California’s deadlines demonstrate another issue: State lotteries control ticket expiration dates.
For instance, the pressure is on in Oregon.
Garza told Bonus the Oregon Lottery gives Mega Millions winners 60 days to collect their prizes. Washington’s Lottery offers 180 days.
In Pennsylvania, winners have a year to collect their prizes.
However, not knowing that expiration date is a common problem.
Swope said:
There are several reasons why a prize might go unclaimed, including that the ticket was accidentally thrown away, misplaced, or that it expired.
Then, sometimes, winners don’t check the smaller prizes associated with large jackpots.
When CNNMoney took a look at the issue of unclaimed money, Chris Isidore wrote about most of the uncollected prizes being small:
Powerball has a $4 prize for picking just the Powerball number correctly, while Mega Millions has a $2 prize for getting its Mega Millions number.
While lottery officials may never know why winners don’t claim their money, officials do know how much it costs them. During Fiscal Year 2023, Pennsylvania lottery ticket buyers never picked up more than $24 million, Swope told Bonus.
Scratch-Off Tickets Expire, Too
Most US lottery players buy paper “scratch-off” tickets, which are subject to as many doom scenarios as paper Mega Millions and Powerball tickets.
So, Swope tells Bonus, her agency publishes press releases and posts on social media about unclaimed Scratch-Off tickets, too.
She said on Sept. 19:
Scratch-Off prizes can be collected up to one year from the game’s end-sale date.
In Fiscal Year 2024, Pennsylvania Lottery records show paper Scratch-Off tickets accounted for 65% of sales, or $3.1 billion of $4.8 billion in traditional game sales. (That’s not the same as profit, which was $1.22 billion.)
In her Sept. 19 responses to Bonus, Swope said:
With respect to Scratch-Off tickets, the information is maintained by the Lottery a bit differently given the way in which Scratch-Off tickets are sold. Because the Lottery does not know the location of the Scratch-Off winning tickets, the Lottery tracks Scratch-Off tickets when they are actually claimed (presented to the Lottery for payment). Prize money remaining from unsold Scratch-Off tickets or winning Scratch-Off tickets not presented for payment also remains in the Lottery Fund to support programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians. Given that, information related to Scratch-Off games is not available in the same way it’s available for Draw Games.
Hence, buzzer-beater ticket searches may be underway in attics and trash cans from Pennsylvania to New Jersey and beyond.
Perhaps that stress is part of why iLotteries are growing in the states that have them. In the Keystone State, iLottery gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose from $88 million in Fiscal Year 2023 to $97 million in Fiscal Year 2024.
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