DEVELOPING: The jackpot continues to grow, standing at $1.28 billion as of 2 p.m. July 29. Interviews for the story were conducted earlier.

When the Mega Millions drawing takes place July 29, the $1.28 billion jackpot will be the second-largest in U.S. lottery history.

If you beat the 1 in 302.5 million odds and hit the five numbers and Mega Ball on your ticket, you can opt for a cool $747.2 million cash payout.

The size of the jackpot is creating a lot of buzz and could push even higher by the 11 p.m. drawing, based on the anticipated volume of ticket sales.

“This is a fun and entertaining time for Mega Millions game players everywhere,” New Jersey Lottery Executive Director James Carey told NJBIZ. The “jackpot is producing excitement among our New Jersey Lottery players who want to have their chance to ‘strike it rich.’”

In fact, the jackpot is so high that many lottery retailers had to set their outside displays to $999 million.

Sal Risalvato, executive director, New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association, said the buzz created by the Mega Millions jackpot is not only exciting, but also leads to an economic boost for his members.

“Anytime a jackpot reaches dream-worthy levels, there is excitement among the entire population,” Risalvato told NJBIZ. “My members enjoy the excitement, and certainly they enjoy the extra traffic entering stores to buy lottery tickets. It is not a coincidence that more customers entering their stores to buy lottery also buy more coffee and other food items.”

Risalvato said his members are loving the enthusiastic conversations with their customers and building the camaraderie around the shared lottery dreams.

“They are all rooting for one of their customers to buy the winning ticket because they also receive a significant prize for selling the winning ticket,” said Risalvato.

The July 29 drawing will be the 30th since anybody hit the big jackpot. In total, 45 states, plus Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands participate in the Mega Millions drawings, which are held every Tuesday and Friday nights.

This week, two $1 million tickets were sold in New Jersey for Tuesday’s drawing. The winning tickets, which matched all five numbers but not the Mega Ball, were purchased at a 7-Eleven in Tenafly and a Circle K in Point Pleasant. They were among just nine purchased nationally.

The highest overall lottery jackpots in U.S. history were a Powerball jackpot of $1.586 billion in January 2016 and a Mega Million jackpot of $1.537 billion in October 2018.

Friday’s drawing will mark just the third time in history that a jackpot has crossed the billion-dollar threshold.

“It is fun while it lasts,” Risalvato added.

“Remember, you have to be in it to win it, so buy your ticket early and get in the game,” said Carey.

Good luck, New Jersey.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. July 29 to include comments from Sal Risalvato, executive director, New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association. Additionally, it was updated at 1:50 p.m. ET to reflect the growing jackpot.