NHL 50/50 Ticket Sales

50/50 raffle sales are ingrained in Canadian sporting culture and can be found everywhere from local curling club tournaments to national rodeo and hockey events. Traditionally, 50/50 raffles are operated using preprinted, uniquely numbered tickets. The challenge of this is that the raffle operator has to estimate how many tickets they anticipate will be sold and pre-order the correct quantity. If they order too many tickets, valuable charity money will be wasted. If they order too few then they have missed out on the opportunity to sell more tickets and raise additional money for their charity.

Purchasing a 50/50 ticket is a regular part of attending an Edmonton Oilers game. With the highest average 50/50 prize of all Canadian NHL teams, fans are enticed by the opportunity to walk away with a significant cash prize and the net proceeds directly benefit the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation. The Win50 Group wanted to find a way to maximize ticket sales, minimize raffle expenses and create an overall more efficient 50/50 raffle ticket sales system.

Working with the Win50 group, DevFacto was able to create an electronic sales system that prints raffle tickets on demand. This system gives sellers a hand-held device and mobile printer. When a sale occurs, a ticket is printed off and given to the customer and at the same time a matching ticket is printed and put in the draw barrel. This system does not require any guessing as to how many tickets to pre-order and only requires a stock of blank paper that can be used over many events.

The system also features video and data feeds that can be hooked into the video screen and broadcast systems of the host facility. This allows the venue operator to advertise to fans how big the jackpot is and increases sales by getting people excited about the size of the prize.

The initial launch of the new Win50 system occurred at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship in Edmonton and sold over $1.3m in tickets. Since then, the system has been used at Rexall Place for both Oilers and Oil Kings events and at Commonwealth Stadium at Eskimos events. The new system has enabled charity groups to double their sales by providing faster service to purchasers, extending sales time due to more efficient cash out processes and always printing the correct amount of tickets to satisfy demand.

1. Advertise jackpot growth in real-time on in-house televisions to increase demand
2. Provide faster service for purchasers
3. Run the sales service longer due to more efficient cash out processes
4. Carry the program into other sporting events such as the Edmonton Oilers and Oil Kings games at Rexall Place and at Commonwealth Stadium for Eskimos football events