After almost $1M in refunds, jackpot for Oilers historic 50/50 draw expected to happen next week
CBC News | Posted: August 21, 2020 5:04 PM | Last Updated: August 21, 2020
Jackpot at $14.3M after refunds offered in wake of sales-day technical glitches
The final pot on the Edmonton Oilers as-yet-undrawn, record-setting 50/50 raffle will be $14.3 million, after the organization refunded about $900,000 to make up for technical glitches during the sales.
In a statement posted to its website on Friday, the Edmonton Oilers said the draw is expected to be held by the middle of next week, with a single winner walking away with half the pot and the remainder going to organizations in the community.
"This week has been spent auditing and finalizing the refund and confirmation lists, to ensure we can move forward with an accurate final list of participants in the draw," the organization said in the statement.
"These steps, although time consuming, were vital to ensure the integrity of the raffle."
The 50/50, operated by the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation, was originally scheduled for the Aug. 7 matchup between the Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Oilers lost and were eliminated from the series.
The online sales grew quickly to $15.2 million — a world record for sports 50/50 draws — but the servers were overwhelmed by purchase requests.
Buyers were met with slow loading times, geolocation issues and error messages. Many who tried to repurchase tickets reported being charged multiple times for the subsequent attempts.
Contest entrants were offered four options. They could keep all of their tickets in the 50/50 draw, keep some of their tickets and receive a partial refund, cancel the tickets outright, or request a confirmation email and ticket numbers.
The refunds amount to about six per cent of the original pot.
According to the statement, the organization is holding off on the draw until all refunds are processed and customers who asked for refunds have been reimbursed.