Mass. Getting Its 1st $50 Scratch Lotto Ticket

The Massachusetts Lottery is launching a record-breaking new game, its first-ever $50 scratch ticket, officials said Tuesday.

Called "Billion Dollar Extravaganza," the game will offer more than $1 billion in total winnings, headlined by three $25 million top prizes that are the largest the Massachusetts Lottery has ever included on an instant ticket.

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The game, starting Feb. 7, will also feature five $2 million prizes and 15 prizes worth $1 million.

"This will be the best chance to win $500 and $1,000 in the history of the Massachusetts Lottery," Lottery Interim Executive Director Mark William Bracken said during a Tuesday meeting of the Lottery Commission.

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Officials say the $50 ticket's 82% prize payout is the highest percentage of any game the state lottery has ever offered, and the minimum prize will be $100, meaning every winner will do better than breaking even on a single ticket.

The priciest instant ticket the Lottery sells now costs players $30.

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Bracken said officials are "very, very excited to be joining the 14 or 15 or so other states that already have a $50 price point out in the market."

"It's something that our players and our agents tell us time and time again, almost in every single focus group, 'Why have you not launched the $50 ticket?' We never thought it was the right time," he said.

Powerball says its odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9, while the odds of winning a jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Mega Millions, meanwhile, says there is a 1 in 24 chance of winning any prize, and a 1 in 302.5 million chance of winning a jackpot.

Mass. Lottery Chief Marketing Officer Edward Farley said the agency "literally turned this ticket upside down" workshopping it before its launch.

"As the Lottery's 50th anniversary celebration approaches the end, what better time to introduce the $50 ticket to begin our next 50 years!" Treasurer Deborah Goldberg said in a statement. "Our customers had been requesting this ticket for some time. After careful consideration, the Lottery has what we believe will provide them with the entirely new level of excitement they have been seeking."

The commission projects that the Lottery will sell more than $1.5 billion in "Billion Dollar Extravaganza" games, which would generate more than $150 million in net profit, which gets returned to all 351 cities and towns as unrestricted local aid.

December featured another Lottery milestone. During the first week of the month, it surpassed $50 million in claims cashed through the Massachusetts Lottery mobile app, which launched in September 2021.