They seek an exclusive right to offer much fatter prizes than the state now allows all other raffles. The teams want to earmark 50% of the pot for prizes. Raffles run by such groups as little leagues, churches and service organizations are limited to giving winners no more than 10% of the take.
Pro sports teams say they expect to sell tens of thousands of raffle tickets per game, quickly raising big money for community and team charities. Proceeds from a single game's sales can be impressive. Last summer, the Arizona Diamondbacks sold a record $100,016 worth of 50-50 raffle tickets at a July 5 home game, with half going to a fund for wildfire victims and the other half to a fan.
"This is a great way to get the fans excited," said Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), who has introduced raffle legislation for the sports clubs. "At the end of the day, they know in their hearts that they did something great for a lot of charitable organizations."
But a group representing nearly 10,000 nonprofit organizations sees major-league favoritism at work.
