CONNECTICUT, USA — Here we are again: A massive, record-breaking lottery jackpot, one that's clocking over a billion dollars, with another highly anticipated drawing Tuesday night.
The Mega Millions jackpot, as of writing, has reached over $1.55 billion.
If you were to become one of the luckiest people on the planet and win, you have two options: Taking a lump sum or a yearly pay-out that would total $1.55 billion for 30 years.
If you chose the option of a lump sum and didn't have to split the prize with anyone else, you'd get a pre-tax estimated $757.2 million, which is nothing to sneeze at. Most people in your life may have already said, "Even winning a million dollars would change my life!" So imagine $757.2 million.
Imagining what we'd do with that kind of money in today's economic climate is not new. We all have dreams and hopes for someday winning a jackpot like this. Some say they'll buy their family a new home, donate a lot of it to charity, and pay off debts like student loans, new cars, etc.
But let's make it a little more interesting.
Let's say you won this money, and you got this money (pre-tax estimate)... what could you specifically buy in Connecticut?
First things first, let's look at real estate.
Unfortunately, you missed out on the most expensive home and property for sale in the state by just a few days.
Copper Beech Farm, with 50 acres (20 hectares) of waterfront property in the tony New York suburb of Greenwich, has sold for just under $139 million, believed to be a record home sale in Connecticut, according to Sotheby’s International Realty.
But that's okay; you still have plenty to choose from.
According to homes for sale listed on Sotheby's, you can buy the first ten homes without breaking a sweat or making a dent in your lottery winnings. At this point, it's useless even counting it all up. Just know you could corner the luxury real estate market in this state in the blink of an eye.
But let's say you got your dream house and want to enjoy your interests and hobbies now. Are sports more your style?
Strap in because you'll be attending a lot of games.
There are options with Hartford Wolf Pack tickets, but say you want to take yourself and your closest 19 family members and friends to a game. If you're looking at the double suite in premium seating, the most expensive option at $800 – you can attend a cool 946,500 games.
Say there will be 36 home games every year; you will have enough money to attend 26,291 seasons' worth of games.
The Hartford Yard Goats baseball season is already underway, but if we go off the lower end of the ticket scale at around $16, you can attend 47,325,000 games.
Their current season schedule has them playing 69 home games at home. It would take you about 685,869 years to work through all of it.
Let's be honest, that's a lot of sports. You'll need some good food to go with that.
Are you a fan of Connecticut's signature New Haven Neopolatin-style pizza?
A large, original cheese tomato pie from Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana runs about $33.25. With that price, you'd be able to score 22,772,932 pizzas for all of you and your closest friends and family.
A medium, classic tomato and cheese pie at Sally's Apizza runs for $23.50, so you'll get 32,221,276 pizzas. Make some room!
If New England seafood is your choice, then $757.2 million can still grab you a ridiculous amount of food.
The Ultimate Aperitif chilled appetizer, which includes 375 Luc Bellaire Sparkling Rosé and 12 oysters on the half shell, at S&P Oyster Restaurant and Bar in Mystic is the most expensive item on the menu at $78, giving you 9,707,692 meals. That's over 110 million oysters. Good luck!
Want a lobster roll?
Guilford Lobster Pound offers a fresh lobster grilled cheese at $26. You can then purchase 29,123,076 of them.
At the risk of overfishing, it's probably best not to go down that route.
Okay, we got all the sports games we can handle and all the pizza and lobster rolls we can possibly eat.
What about cars?
The last time we looked at what you could buy with exorbitant lottery winnings, we chose the Bugatti "La Voiture Noire," unveiled in 2021. The car will run you at least around $18 million.
There is one Bugatti dealership in Connecticut, located in Greenwich. At this time, they don't have the car available, but for the sake of the hypothetical, let's say they do.
With that base price, you could buy 26 cars for you and all your friends.
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Of course, to even begin realizing the colossal nature of all of this, you'd have to win all the money. But, again, even if it's just $1 million, $10,000, or even $1,000 – a win is a win!
Good luck. The next drawing is Tuesday, August 8, on CW20.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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