The Eskimos are well prepared to deal with thousands of football fans eager to buy 50/50 tickets during their July 14 home game against the reigning Grey Cup champion Ottawa RedBlacks at The Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium. Kickoff is 8 p.m.
Increased numbers of sellers with ticket machines will be available to deal with the rush as people try to take advantage of a carryover jackpot, presented by belairdirect, that starts at $82,060. The 50/50 jackpot was unclaimed after the Eskimos home opener on June 30.
“We’re going to be ready for our fans way more than we were that first time,” said Allan Watt, Eskimos Marketing & Communications. “It was a real learning experience for us.”
Public response in July 2014 to a carry-over prize was unprecedented the last time they had a carryover 50/50 jackpot. The Eskimos expected the jackpot to reach $150,000, but it soared all the way to a record-setting $348,534, including $71,732 in unclaimed winnings from a previous game. Fans were often buying hundreds of dollars of tickets for themselves, friends, and family members.
“When you get such an overwhelming response, you’ve just got to do the best you can,” Watt said. “It was a rookie experience for us, too.”
“But we have a new system, we have more machines, we have people who have done nothing but develop this template after we didn’t get a winner at the last game. We’ve worked really hard at making sure that we’ve got the sellers dispersed properly, that they’ve got backup, that they’ve got everything they need so we can handle it properly.”
Watt expects that Eskimos fans will likely also be inclined to come to the game early to buy their 50/50 tickets and avoid lineups. Doors open at 7 p.m.
“The thing about these kinds of things is that they kind of promote themselves,” he said. “What you see when you get to the stadium, the number on the scoreboard is the number that somebody’s taking home.”
The other half of the 50/50 ticket sales is shared by the University of Alberta Golden Bears football team, Edmonton’s two junior football teams (the Wildcats and Huskies), Football Alberta and the Eskimos Alumni Association.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders started the Regina Rams 50/50 draw for the grand opening of their new facility, Mosaic Stadium, on July 1 with $100,000 in the total jackpot. Darren Schnell of Airdrie, Alta., eventually took home $277,000.
Tickets for the Eskimos 50/50 draw, presented by belairdirect, are $5 each, three for $10 or ten for $20. Buyers must 18 years of age or older to purchase tickets – which are only available inside of the Brick Field at Commonwealth Stadium on game day.