TORONTO — Thomas can’t keep in mind what he mentioned or heard throughout a gathering final month.
That’s as a result of solely minutes earlier than, he was knowledgeable by Sportsnet anchor Evanka Osmak that he had gained half 1,000,000 {dollars}.
A number of days earlier Thomas, who requested to make use of a pseudonym to protect his privateness, purchased a ticket to the Jays Care 50/50 raffle on a whim after a advertising e-mail landed in his inbox. And then he forgot all about it.
“When you play this stuff,” he mentioned, “you don’t actually anticipate you’re going to win.”
When his cellphone rang whereas at work at his IT job on May 13, he almost rejected the decision from a non-public quantity. “I’m glad I didn’t,” Thomas mentioned. Instead, he picked as much as hear Osmak, the host of Sportsnet Central, inform him that he was the winner of the 50/50 grand prize. She requested if he knew how a lot he had simply gained. Thomas responded that he thought $50,000 could be nice. “Then she mentioned, ‘Yeah, $50,000 could be nice. But it’s really (CAD) $538,908.’”
Thomas didn’t have lengthy to course of his shock. He needed to head into a gathering proper afterwards.
“I don’t know what I mentioned. I used to be clearly speaking and answering questions, however my thoughts was utterly elsewhere, simply considering, ‘Is this actual? Did that simply really occur?’” mentioned Thomas, who had solely entered the 50/50 a handful of instances prior.
Over the years, the Toronto Blue Jays’ 50/50 raffle has develop into identified for its eye-popping jackpots and life-changing winnings. The jackpots have caught the eyes of many in baseball, together with former Cleveland Guardians supervisor Terry Francona, who noticed the $82,000 whole through the 2016 ALCS and instructed catcher Mike Napoli, “We gotta get in on that.”
The 50/50 raffle, run by Jays Care Foundation, the charitable arm of the Blue Jays, awards half of the ticket gross sales to a winner, whereas the opposite half goes to charity. It has topped 9 millionaires thus far. Already the largest raffle of its variety in Major League Baseball, it strives to set new information yearly.
One of these 9 millionaires is a person named Andrew. He had simply gotten dwelling from the heart specialist when his cellphone rang. Thankfully, his coronary heart was in good situation when a consultant from Jays Care known as.
When Andrew answered, he was requested if he acquired a name earlier that day and was instructed to test his voicemail. When he did, there was a message from Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez. In his unmistakable raspy voice, Martinez knowledgeable Andrew that he was the fortunate winner of $2.6 million.
“It was fairly a tremendous second,” mentioned Andrew, who requested to be recognized solely by his first title to guard his privateness.
The win got here at an particularly opportune second for Andrew, who mentioned he had been coping with private challenges.
“It’s been a really sombre previous couple of years, and it was good to get some extraordinarily excellent news,” Andrew mentioned. “And this cash would assist me do plenty of constructive issues.”
Andrew, above, initially missed the decision informing him that he was a 50/50 winner. (Courtesy of Jays Care)
The introduction of on-line 50/50 ticket gross sales throughout Ontario in 2019 helped increase the raffle’s attain. When the pandemic hit in 2020, and the Blue Jays performed their video games away from the Rogers Centre, Jays Care pivoted from each day attracts to homestand jackpots and mega-jackpots, a transfer that allowed the pots to develop bigger and elevated the curiosity. Together, these adjustments ushered in an period of huge progress with the Jays Care 50/50, producing the top-10 greatest jackpots in MLB historical past — all since 2019.
“That’s one thing we’re extraordinarily pleased with,” mentioned Jays Care government director Robert Witchel. “We wish to make our packages the most effective in school. We wish to attain as many children as doable.”
In 2021, the Jays Care 50/50 recorded $12 million in whole tickets offered — with half going to the winners and the opposite half to the charity. By 2023, whole ticket gross sales had been as much as $33 million, culminating with an Ontario- and MLB-record jackpot of $5.9 million final September. (Congratulations to Mini from Toronto.)
Already this season, the 50/50 has awarded 4 grand prize jackpots totaling greater than $4.3 million, together with lots of of early-bird prizes that embody signed memorabilia, Blue Jays tickets and smaller money prizes. Next month’s Canada Day mega-jackpot will award 10 grand prize winners who will evenly cut up the pot, an concept that got here from fan suggestions, and can embody 157 early-bird prizes to commemorate Canada turning 157 years outdated.
The BIGGEST Jackpot in MLB historical past! 🔥
You requested for it @BlueJays followers, and we listened.. For the primary time ever, we’ll be evenly splitting our mega jackpot between 10 totally different winners! Plus, you may have 157 possibilities to win some unbelievable prizes.🤩
— Jays Care Foundation (@JaysCare) June 7, 2024
Part of what makes the Jays Care 50/50 stand out is its ambassadors — the red-shirted, eclectic and cheerful staff stationed all through the Rogers Centre concourse who promote 50/50 tickets till the ultimate out is made.
The ambassadors’ day sometimes begins a few hours earlier than first pitch. In the minutes earlier than the stadium gates open, they collect in a classroom-sized room tucked inside Gate 3. On this Tuesday night in May, Kelly Woodman, an occasion supervisor with the 50/50 workforce, begins by going over their gross sales from the earlier night earlier than instructing them on the gross sales targets for that night time’s recreation.
Finally, earlier than they hit the concourse, it’s time for his or her cheer.
“50/50!”
Clap clap clap clap clap
“Sell them tickets!”
Clap clap clap clap clap
“Raise that cash!”
Clap clap clap clap clap
“Let’s go!”
“They come from all totally different walks of life,” mentioned Woodman. “It turned like a extremely close-knit household. Everybody is aware of all people and their spouses and their children and their grandkids… They’re simply actually invested in one another, which is good.”
Once out on the concourse, the ambassadors unfold out. There are 60 this season, however on common, 30 to 40 work every recreation. Each ambassador develops a singular type for attracting prospects. Some are loud and vocal: “50/50 tickets! Come help the Jays Care Foundation!” Others, like Tracey Lung, take a extra curated strategy.
“I’m actually good at studying individuals,” mentioned Lung, who’s in her second 12 months of promoting. “How they strategy me or whether or not they’re wanting down or wanting proper at me, I do know whether or not or not I’m going to be making an attempt to promote them on a ticket, they’re going to get a ticket or I can upsell them.”
Before a potential sale, an envoy will educate the possible purchaser on the charitable initiatives earlier than operating down the varied ticket choices — 5 for $10, 25 for $25, 100 for $50 or 300 for $125, the most effective deal and finest odds.
Anna Cappuccitti, one other ambassador, mentioned there’s a key to being an efficient vendor. “I’m not afraid of rejection,” she mentioned with fun.
In 2023, the ambassadors had been accountable for greater than $6.7 million in gross ticket gross sales, a report 12 months. There is pleasant competitors among the many sellers, who observe their nightly gross sales; the last word bragging rights belong to whoever sells a jackpot-winning ticket. Cappuccitti has but to promote a grand prize ticket, however hopes her luck will change.
“People inform me I’ve this vibe about me, I really feel fortunate, in order that they purchase from me,” she mentioned. “I all the time say, ‘Hey, I want you win. I’ll say a prayer for you.’ I get their names. I write it. I put it in my cellphone and I’ll say a prayer and so they find it irresistible.”
No matter their gross sales tactic, what connects everybody concerned within the 50/50 is the trigger.
Jays Care is accountable for operating programming for marginalized and underprivileged kids throughout Canada, and so they’re projected to succeed in greater than 60,000 children this 12 months. Their packages embody initiatives comparable to Girls At Bat, which is designed to cut back limitations anybody figuring out as a lady might face accessing the game, and Challenger Baseball, an adaptive baseball program for youths dwelling with bodily and/or cognitive disabilities to study the sport in a protected and inspiring atmosphere. Jays Care has twice acquired MLB’s Allan H. Selig Award for Philanthropic Excellence and has been named one of many nation’s prime 100 charities by Charity Intelligence Canada, a non-profit charity watchdog.
Ten years in the past, the 50/50 contributed about 10 p.c of the charity’s general fundraising. Today, the attracts are accountable for almost half of the funds raised, based on Witchel.
And there are plans to continue to grow. This 12 months, Jays Care expanded on-line ticket gross sales to Nova Scotia after the province’s premier attended a Blue Jays recreation and remarked on how massive the prize was.
“I mentioned, ‘Well, would you prefer to deliver that to Nova Scotia?’ And he was all ears,” Witchel mentioned.
There are authorized hurdles to clear, however the eventual hope is that the 50/50 might be open throughout Canada, which is able to present extra funding for youngsters nationwide.
There is a singular enthusiasm in Canada for 50/50 raffles, engrained deep within the nationwide DNA. Many Canadians grew up collaborating of their native hockey rink’s 50/50 raffles. Another potential purpose? Canadians should not taxed on their 50/50 winnings.
While elevating funds for the charity is Jays Care’s predominant precedence, Witchel mentioned informing the fortunate winners of their prize can be rewarding. “We undoubtedly have modified lives,” he mentioned.
Helping individuals like Andrew and Thomas is a satisfying a part of the job for Lung, one of many ticket sellers.
“It’s powerful on the market. The proven fact that we are able to change any person’s life simply by them coming to a recreation… we’re additionally serving to extra children,” she mentioned. “It’s simply this wonderful trickle impact.”
Andrew, the jackpot winner from April, has but to resolve what he might wish to splurge on — a brand new set of golf golf equipment is one thought — however primarily, he’s grateful that he can now put together higher for his retirement.
Thomas, the winner of half 1,000,000 {dollars}, isn’t seeking to purchase a brand new home or a luxurious automobile. He’s not planning to make an impulse purchase. “I want I had a extra entertaining reply for you,” he mentioned when requested what he’d do with the cash.
He grew up in Toronto because the son of immigrants. They didn’t have some huge cash, he mentioned, and his mother and father had been cautious about their spending. He confused that he remembers a beautiful childhood, however he strives to offer his two kids — aged six and 9 — greater than he had. Beyond utilizing his winnings to put money into their future schooling and assist repay a mortgage and line of credit score, he hopes to spend it on household holidays that can create lasting recollections.
“It provides us that peace of thoughts going ahead,” he mentioned. “I feel that’s the largest factor for me. Since (I gained), I simply felt a bit of bit extra relaxed. It doesn’t change my job. I’m nonetheless motivated the identical quantity at work and with household life. But that general consolation and peace of thoughts is nice to have.”
(Top Image: Daniel Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: iStock)
