Giant fast-food chain McDonald’s is bringing back its fan-favorite Monopoly promotion for 2026. McDonald’s has hosted many Monopoly promotions over the years, giving away all kinds of exciting prizes to lucky customers. In the past, McDonald’s customers would peel Monopoly stickers off qualifying items and could put them on a physical mat. Recent years have seen McDonald’s focus more on the digital side of things when it comes to its Monopoly promotions.
Recent McDonald’s Monopoly promotions utilize the McDonald’s app, and that will hold true for the 2026 iteration as well. To play, McDonald’s customers will once again peel properties, game cards, and more off qualifying items, and then they will have to log them in the McDonald’s app. Anyone that wants to play McDonald’s Monopoly this time around will also have to register for McDonald’s rewards and sign up for the Monopoly promotion.
When is McDonald’s Monopoly Coming Back?
The new McDonald’s Monopoly promotion officially starts on Tuesday, October 6. Monopoly stickers will be available during breakfast and lunch/supper, tied to popular items like Large French Fries, Big Macs, McMuffins, Hash Browns, 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, and more. Prizes include $1 million in cash, a 2027 Jeep Cherokee, free food, and various other rewards. McDonald’s plans on distributing 640,591,900 game pieces starting October 6. Winning the top prizes is going to be virtually impossible for the vast majority of customers, but Instant Win Prizes (like free food) have a 1 in 5 chance. The 2026 McDonald’s Monopoly promotion will end on Sunday, November 8, so anyone interested in participating should keep that in mind.
There’s been some controversy with the McDonald’s Monopoly promotions over the years. The need to use the McDonald’s app is likely not going to sit well with some customers that remember the old-school promotion, for example. There have also been instances of serious fraud tied to the McDonald’s Monopoly game, resulting in a federal prison sentence for the man involved (which may potentially be getting turned into a movie). Hopefully the latest iteration of the promotion avoids running into these issues, as McDonald’s Monopoly remains one of the fast-food restaurant’s most popular recurring events.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Besides Monopoly, perhaps the most popular other recurring McDonald’s collab is when the restaurant teams up with Pokemon. While the Pokemon toys at Burger King from the late 90s and early 2000s may be what’s best remembered by millennials, recent years have seen McDonald’s team up with Pokemon to distribute Pokemon cards with Happy Meals. The McDonald’s x Pokemon collab pops back up every so often and, like Monopoly, has its own fair share of controversies. Mainly, scalpers have targeted McDonald’s whenever the restaurant gives away Pokemon cards, causing some customer frustration in the process.
With Pokemon Winds and Waves releasing for the Switch 2 in 2027, chances are McDonald’s will run another Pokemon collab at some point within the next couple of years. In the meantime, McDonald’s customers can look forward to other promotions like the Monopoly return on October 6, and whatever else the world-famous fast-food chain manages to cook up in the months and years ahead.
