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The lottery, which is available to play in 45 states plus Washington, DC, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, announced that changes were coming in April.

Since the lottery launched in 2002, seven winners have won billion-plus jackpots 鈥� most recently in December, when a California resident (or about $550 million in cash).

But 鈥渂eyond big jackpots, players told us they want bigger non-jackpot prizes and that鈥檚 exactly what this new game delivers,鈥� said Joshua Johnston, lead director of the Mega Millions Consortium, in a press release.

Now the big game, with drawings every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET, is getting some major changes.

Bigger price equals bigger prizes

Arguably the biggest change is the price of a ticket, which now costs $5 鈥� a large jump from $2. This is only the second price increase in the game鈥檚 23 years, following 2017 when the price doubled .

Although it鈥檚 a steep increase, Mega Millions said that the higher ticket price will result in larger starting jackpots and faster-growing prizes. The lottery expects the average jackpot will be more than $800 million, much higher than the current $450 million average.

For the lower-payout winners, there will no longer be 鈥渂reakeven prizes鈥� 鈥� meaning that every winning ticket will be more than the cost of a $5 ticket.

That means players who would have won just $2 previously can now win between $10 to $50 under the revised format. Also, people who would have won $500 in the old game can now win significantly more money in the , ranging between $1,000 to $5,000.

Despite the hefty price increase, Akshay Khanna, CEO of , which sells Mega Millions tickets in seven states, told CNN that the lottery game’s customers often spend more than $5 when buying tickets.

鈥淲hile some customers may initially be surprised, we believe they鈥檒l come to recognize the added benefits that this price increase enables,鈥� said Khanna.

鈥淭his vastly differs from something like a subway fare hike where you鈥檙e paying more for the same ride,鈥� he added. 鈥淲ith this Mega Millions price increase, players are receiving improved odds alongside larger and faster-growing jackpots.鈥�

Changes to the game and better odds

It鈥檚 not just ticket prices getting an overhaul. Mega Millions is tweaking the game itself.

The game is removing one gold 鈥淢ega Ball鈥� from the draw, which slightly improves the odds to win any prize from a 1 in 24 chance to 1 in 23. The overall odds of winning the entire Mega Millions jackpot also increases from 1 in 302.6 million, to 1 in 290.5 million.

But the lottery is also eliminating some add-ons. That includes the 鈥淢egaplier,鈥� a $1 add-on that increases non-jackpot payouts and is only available in some states. Also eliminated is 鈥淛ust the Jackpot,鈥� a $3 ticket that gives a player gets two plays to win the overall jackpot but not the lower-payout prizes.

All of these modifications will be a net positive for the game, Khanna predicts.

鈥淭he larger starting jackpots should attract more players,鈥� he said, 鈥渦ltimately increasing the prize amount at a faster rate to keep them engaged.鈥�