The Mega Millions lottery will be debuting a new prize structure starting with the drawing on April 8, and will also be raising the cost of a ticket from $2 to $5.

Although the ticket price is increasing, every ticket will now have the multiplier included for free, and the non-jackpot prizes will be increasing by at least two times compared to the old system, Mega Millions said in a release Tuesday.

“Players who had won $2 in the old game will now take home $10, $15, $20, $25 or $50 under this game. Those who had won $500 under the old rules will now take home $1,000; $1,500; $2,000; $2,500 or $5,000 in this new game,” Mega Millions Consortium Lead Director Joshua Johnston said.

Non-jackpot prizes will now range from $10 to $10 million, and will guarantee that a winning player will recoup their ticket price and get additional money on top; currently, the lowest tier gives out a $2 prize, which only recoups the cost of buying a ticket.

New jackpots will also start larger at $50 million, compared with $20 million previously. Mega Millions also expects jackpots to grow faster than before. Whereas the current average jackpot is about $450 million, the new average jackpot is expected to be more than $800 million.

Mega Millions is also making it slightly easier to win a jackpot, by taking out one of the 25 gold balls needed to hit it big. Overall odds will improve from one in 24 to one in 23, while jackpot odds will improve from one in 302,575,350 to one in 290,472,336.

Mega Millions tickets are sold in 45 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. They are not available in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada or Utah.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.