Someone entered the new year $1 million richer thanks to a Powerball lottery ticket purchased at a Columbus convenience store.
The winner bought the ticket at the Sprint Mart gas station located at 5780 Hwy. 182 E. at the intersection with New Hope Road. The ticket, which matched five balls for the Powerball drawing on New Year’s Eve, earned the ticket holder $1 million, according to a Monday press release from the Mississippi Lottery Corporation.
The winner has yet to come forward, MLC Vice President of Communications Savannah Tirey said.
“It could be anybody at this point,” Tirey said. “The only thing we know is that the ticket was purchased at (the) Sprint Mart. … So, given that location, it could be a Mississippi winner. It could be an Alabama winner. We have so many Alabama residents that cross over to play, but really, it could be anybody.”
The winner now has 180 days following the Dec. 31 drawing to claim the prize, which will be given in a taxable lump sum of $1 million, Tirey said.
The drawing marks the second winning ticket from that Sprint Mart in the last eight months following a $56,000 Mississippi Match 5 win in June.
The New Year’s Eve win is also the second winning ticket of at least $1 million sold in Columbus in that eight-month timeframe, along with a $1.2 million ticket from the Mississippi Match 5 drawing in June purchased at the Texaco 69 Mart located at 4314 Hwy. 69.
While Columbus, West Point and Starkville have all had lottery winners in the past, Tirey said, the Golden Triangle doesn’t really stick out as an outlier for winning tickets because MLC regularly sees winners all across the state. Since lottery sales began in Mississippi in 2019, The Dispatch has reported at least four lottery wins of more than $100,000 in the Golden Triangle, along with the New Year’s Eve Powerball drawing.
“We have been on a hot streak with some big wins in Columbus, like our first million-dollar Mississippi Match 5 winner was from Columbus,” Tirey said. “… But honestly, our winners are all throughout the state. … So we like to say we have some hot markets, but we really don’t know where the biggest winner is going to come from next.”
Jasmine Washington, store manager for the Sprint Mart at 5780 Hwy. 82 E., said the store has seen an influx of customers purchasing lottery tickets since the announcement of the winning ticket.
“We were slammed when we found out yesterday,” Washington said. “… The cashiers couldn’t even leave the register.”
Sprint Mart is one of several companies owned by Dutch Oil Company. President Matt Bogue said it was exciting and surprising to see a second winner come from the store in an eight-month stretch.
“We’re always thrilled when any of our customers win a lottery drawing, and it’s even more special when it’s the significant, life-changing money that this one happened to be,” Bogue said. “So we’re happy for all of our customers that win the lottery.”
Bogue said he believes part of the reason “lightning struck twice” at the store in 2025 was because of the large number of customers who cross the Alabama border to participate in the lottery.
“Alabama does not have a lottery, so we do have a lot of customers that come over from Alabama, and a lot of loyal Mississippi customers who shop there,” Bogue said. “And … obviously the stores that do a high volume of lottery sales are going to have a better chance of having one strike it big.”
A portion of each lottery ticket sold in Mississippi goes back to the state, Tirey said. Each year, the first $80 million in net lottery proceeds goes towards Mississippi’s roads and bridges, and then additional proceeds go to the Education Enhancement Fund.
MLC transferred $11.4 million in November directly to the state’s EEF, bringing the total so far for Fiscal Year 2026 to $53.3 million, Tirey said. Since lottery sales began in 2019, the state has received more than $745 million in total proceeds.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
