AMES, Iowa — One year ago, someone purchased a winning Mega Millions ticket at a gas station in Ames, Iowa. With the million-dollar ticket now expired, where will the money go?
In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Iowa Lottery's Vice President of External Relations and Social Responsibility Mary Neubauer explained that the prize money will be used to pay out different winners.
"It's very clear the money from lottery prizes that expire without being claimed goes into the lottery's prize pools for future games and promotions," Neubauer said in the video. "So it will go to pay prizes, just not those prizes that have expired."
Neubauer also said the lottery's holiday promotion, which will begin next month, will be receiving a boost compared to years past. According to the rules of last year's Holiday Cash Bash, a total of $355,000 in cash prizes were available to win during the promotion. In 2023, Neubauer said a total of $1 million will be given away.
"We're still working out all the final details, but I think this definitely can be called a holiday bonus," Neubauer said in the video.
In addition to scratcher prizes, non-winning tickets can be submitted into an online second-chance drawing.
In an interview with WOI-TV, Neubauer said the prize would have made a huge difference in someone's life.
"It is really unusual for a prize of this size to go unclaimed," Neubauer said. "To the best of my knowledge, there's only one million-dollar prize that's ever gone unclaimed in Iowa."
That prize was won in 2019 with a ticket purchased in the same county, according to Neubauer.