Inaugural Raffle Huge Success for MLS’ Philadelphia Union

Friday, May 10, 2013

Credit: Daily Times
By JOHN KOPP
jkopp@delcotimes.com
@DT_JohnKopp

Soccer fans visiting PPL Park will have the chance to walk out of the stadium several thousand dollars richer, should luck fall their way this season.

Thanks to amendments made to the state’s Small Games of Chance Act, the Philadelphia Union are holding a 50-50 raffle drawing at each of their remaining home games. The raffles will serve as a fundraiser for the Philadelphia Union Foundation, the team’s charitable arm.

The foundation and the winner will split the jackpot, which reached $17,230 during the raffle’s debut May 4.

“The ultimate winners in this are the foundations that we have and the kids, communities and the causes that those foundations serve,” said Nick Sakiewicz, Union chief executive officer. “It’s a great idea and good public policy in Harrisburg to change the legislation.”

Sakiewicz said the Union joined Philadelphia’s other four major sports franchises last year in advocating for an amendment that would permit professional sports teams to host 50-50 raffles to benefit their charitable organizations. He said the effort was spearheaded by Fred Shabel, vice president of Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Flyers.

“In this day and age, and in this economy, donations are harder than ever to secure,” Sakiewicz said. “This was an idea that has been used in Canada and in other sports for many, many years. All of the sports teams kind of got together saying this would be a great way to enhance our fundraising efforts for our foundations.”

The Philadelphia Union Foundation primarily focuses its efforts on providing children with safe recreational facilities, fitness and wellness awareness and educational opportunities promoting life skills.

The foundation, with the assistance of collaborating organizations, runs a Soccer for Success program at several schools within Chester. It maintains the playground and soccer field the Union helped construct last summer at Showalter Middle School. The foundation also has held coat drives, school supply drives and Delaware River walkway cleanups.

Sakiewicz said the money gained from the raffles will allow the foundation to start new programs and enhance existing ones. He said he was “pleasantly surprised” at the final amount of the initial jackpot.

“We were hoping it would be that high,” Sakiewicz said. “Our expectations were pretty modest the first game. The Flyers actually gave us a little heads up. They did it throughout their season.”

Peter Luukko, president and chief operating officer of Comcast-Spectacor, said the Flyers held raffles at each of their home games this year. Most games, the jackpot fell in the $50,000-$60,000 range. Over the course of a full hockey season, Luukko said, that equates to about $1 million benefitting Flyers Charities and another $1 million distributed to raffle winners.

Luukko said the key to the raffle’s success is its technology. Fans can purchase tickets via handheld devices and kiosks located in various seating sections. The system, developed by Pointstreak Sports Technologies, instantly calculates the jackpot, which is displayed prominently around the arena.

“It’s really the technology that drives the pot,” Luukko said. “It’s not just the old 50-50 that someone walks around with tickets and a bucket.”

Luukko said the jackpot hit a season-high $85,000 the night the Flyers raised money to benefit the Boston Marathon victims.

“I think it’s one of the most exciting in-game elements that have come around in years,” Luukko said. “It is just so good for everybody. It’s one of those game-changer elements that don’t come around very often.”

Pointstreak receives a cut of the pot and taxes are immediately taken out of the winnings, but Luukko called the technology a “win-win” for the fans and the benefitting charities.

Luukko said he was introduced to the technology while watching his son’s collegiate hockey games. He credited Kevin Lovitt, president of Pointstreak, and Shabel as being instrumental in the push to get the necessary amendments to the Small Games of Chance Act.

“The process wasn’t all that long,” Luukko said. “At the end of the day, government saw that this was a good win-win all the way around.”

The amendments were included in Act 184 of 2012 and sponsored by former state Sen. Jane Earll, R-49, of Erie County. They passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and were signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett in October.

“Philly is a great place,” Sakiewicz added. “No other city in the country can have their top five major league sports teams collaborate on an issue and get it all resolved.”

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ABOUT POINTSTREAK 5050:

Pointstreak 5050 (Formerly 5050 Central), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc., is an automated raffle software that drives consumer participation in raffle events while providing accountability to the raffle process.  The Pointstreak 5050 system electronically captures every transaction while providing updated real-time raffle information to display devices located throughout the venue. Tickets are sold to fans through fixed touch-screen terminals and mobile devices, creating an effortless data collection system providing faster sales transaction, longer selling periods, accountability and substantial increases in average raffle proceeds. Pointstreak 5050 boasts some of sports' best brands as clients, including the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Union, Calgary Flames, Phoenix Coyotes and Columbus Blue Jackets.

For more information, visit www.pointstreak5050.com.