Imagine sitting down two days after Christmas, the house still smelling like pine needles and leftover turkey, and realizing you just became a billionaire.
That isn't some holiday movie plot. It actually happened. For anyone asking who won Mega Millions Dec 27 2024, the answer landed in a tiny town in Northern California, effectively ending one of the longest jackpot droughts in the game's history.
The winning numbers were 3, 7, 37, 49, 55, and the Mega Ball was 6. If you played the Megaplier, it was 3x.
The Billion-Dollar Ticket in Cottonwood
While millions of people were checking their tickets on that Friday night, one specific person had the golden ticket. It was sold at Sunshine Food and Gas located at 3505 Rhonda Road in Cottonwood, California.
Cottonwood is a quiet spot in Shasta County, not exactly where you'd expect a billion-dollar headline to originate. But that's the lottery for you. It's random.
The jackpot was initially estimated at $1.22 billion, but after the dust settled and all the ticket sales were tallied up, the final amount actually grew to **$1.269 billion**.
This win was massive. It officially became the fifth-largest jackpot in the history of the Mega Millions game. To put that in perspective, the cash option—which is what almost everyone actually takes—was a staggering $571.9 million.
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Beyond the Jackpot: Other Big Winners
Kinda easy to forget, but the jackpot winner wasn't the only one who got a life-changing phone call that night.
Five other tickets matched all five white balls but missed the Mega Ball. In any other week, winning a million bucks is the story of the year. On December 27, it was the "runner-up" prize.
Two of those million-dollar tickets were also sold in California. The others were scattered across the map: one in Arizona, one in Missouri, and one in Texas. Honestly, the Texas winner probably feels a bit of a sting—if they’d spent the extra dollar for the Megaplier, that $1 million would have tripled to $3 million.
Why This Drawing Was Such a Big Deal
This wasn't just another Friday night drawing. This was the culmination of months of "no winners."
The jackpot hadn't been hit since September 10, 2024, when a player in Texas took home $810 million. For 30 consecutive drawings, nobody could match all six numbers. That's why the pot grew so high. People get lottery fever when the number crosses the billion-dollar mark.
You saw it at gas stations and convenience stores everywhere. Long lines. People who never play the lottery suddenly "chipping in" for a pool.
What Happens Next for the Winner?
In California, lottery winners' names are eventually a matter of public record, but they don't have to come forward immediately. They have a full year from the date of the drawing to claim their prize.
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If you were the one who won Mega Millions Dec 27 2024, you'd basically be spending the first few weeks of 2025 hiring a very expensive team of lawyers and financial planners.
The winner has two choices:
- The Annuity: 30 payments over 29 years, totaling the full $1.269 billion.
- The Cash Option: A one-time lump sum of $571.9 million.
Most people take the cash. Even after the federal government takes its 37% cut, you're looking at hundreds of millions of dollars hitting a bank account.
Lessons for the Rest of Us
Lottery odds are 1 in 302,575,350. To put that in perspective, you are significantly more likely to be struck by lightning while being eaten by a shark than to win the Mega Millions jackpot.
But someone did win.
If you're still holding onto a ticket from that night, check it again. Even if you didn't win the billion, there were over 5.6 million winning tickets sold across all the smaller prize tiers. Someone in Ohio won a $10,000 prize but might not even know it yet.
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Next steps for lottery players:
Double-check your tickets using an official lottery app or at a licensed retailer. If you did win a substantial amount, sign the back of the ticket immediately and put it in a safe or a bank deposit box before calling a financial advisor. Most states give you 180 days to a year to claim, so there is no rush to run to the lottery office the next morning.