The primary three lotteries to hitch Mega Millions were Washington (in September 2002), Texas (in 2003), and California (in 2005), California was the last addition to Mega Millions before the cross-promote growth of 2010. Montana joined Mega Millions on March 1, 2010, the primary addition to Mega Millions after the cross-sell expansion. Generally, a lottery joining Mega Millions on or after January 31, 2010, offered Powerball before the MUSL cross-sell expansion. The Georgia Lottery was a member of MUSL at the time and wished to sell both games for the remainder of 1996, however inside a couple of days, Georgia was forcibly faraway from MUSL, returning with the 2010 cross-promoting enlargement.

Tickets for The big Game started to be bought in Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, j88 and Virginia on August 31, 1996. The large Game was created and designed by Michigan Lottery Commissioner Bill Martin and Illinois Lottery Director Desiree Rogers after having discussions regarding a multistate game with lottery directors Rebecca Paul of the Georgia Lottery and Penelope W. Kyle of the Virginia Lottery. While the sport's name was altered, the yellow ball in the new Mega Millions emblem continued to read "The massive Game" until February 2003, after which it was changed with six stars representing the original members of the consortium.