By SCOTT McFETRIDGE and CIARAN GILES Associated Press
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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — At over $1 billion, the Mega Millions jackpot is among the largest lottery prizes ever up for grabs, making it the latest focus of lotteries that have been conducted in the U.S. and around the world for centuries.

Only two prizes have grown larger than the massive jackpot that could be won Friday night. Other lotteries elsewhere around the globe offer smaller payouts, though in other ways they are more integrated into life in their countries.

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“There are a ton of lotteries throughout the world,” said Bill Coley, president of the Institute of Responsible Gaming, Lotteries and Sports at Miami University. “It’s the mystiques of mathematics. You can take a nominal fee and give a chance to build a revenue stream of a billion dollars for potentially one individual. It’s pretty exciting.”

Lotteries in the U.S. initially mirrored similar games in Europe, and in 1776 one was created to help fund the Revolutionary War.

Lotteries remain popular in Europe. The Eurojackpot game paid a $120 million euro ($121.9 million) prize just last week to someone in Denmark, and a player in the United Kingdom recently won a $230 million euros ($233.6 million) Euromillions prize.

Arjan van’t Veer, the secretary general of the European Lotteries Association, noted there also are numerous national lotteries.