I have seen two advertised jackpots that looked close, but their cash values were not close at all. Is that mostly interest rates and how the annuity is funded, or are ticket sales part of the cash figure too? Looking for the plain version.
Two moving parts matter most: ticket sales and the annuity factor. Sales change how much money enters the jackpot prize pool. The annuity factor reflects the cost of securities used to fund future payments; higher interest rates generally allow the same cash pool to support a larger advertised annuity.
That means two headline jackpots of similar size can have noticeably different cash options. The advertised annuity and cash value are estimates until sales are final, and the annuity estimate is also subject to the actual funding bids. Compare the current cash value if you want to compare the one-time-payment side.