After falling behind the Florida Panthers three games to none in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers flirted with a historic comeback before coming up short in Game 7. But they did manage another astonishing feat that night: Their final-game 50/50 raffle tallied almost $16 million (C$21.6 million) in sales.
“That catapulted the 50/50 to the stratosphere,” Tim Shipton, the club’s executive vice president of communications and gaming and a board member of its charity, said. “Game 7s of Cup Finals don’t come around all the time, but you do see it. There’s just more momentum, more excitement and more passion around the team, and that does translate to the fans supporting the Oilers Foundation in the 50/50.”
When it comes to raising money, the franchise has skated circles around its competition. The Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation runs what is widely considered the largest 50/50 raffle in professional sports. The contest, which awards half of the pot to a winner and donates the other half to charity after expenses, has sold just shy of $350 million (C$472 million) in tickets since 2001, resulting in about $175 million (C$236 million) in prizes for residents of Alberta.
During the most recently completed fiscal year, ending on June 30, the Oilers foundation’s raffle sales eclipsed $64 million (C$87.5 million), according to its audited financial statements and based on last year’s exchange rate.
But running an operation of that scale isn’t cheap. The Oilers foundation uses a service provider called Win50, a company accredited by the Alberta Gaming, Liquor & Cannabis (AGLC), a provincial-government regulatory body. Win50 also happens to be owned by Edmonton’s ownership group.
During the past five fiscal years, the Oilers foundation has paid around $80 million (C$107 million) to Win50, which is reported as “licenses, memberships and dues,” according to publicly available filings at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the charity’s audited financial statements. From July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, about $18 million (C$24.2 million), or almost 28% of total raffle sales, went to Win50, which fronts marketing, promotional and advertising expenses and provides technology, customer service and operational services. Separately, the foundation paid an additional $1.7 million (C$2.3 million) in payment processing fees during that period.
The percentage is high compared to other, smaller-scale contests around the NHL, such as the 17.5% of raffle sales the Winnipeg Jets’ charitable arm put toward operational costs or the roughly 11% diverted to expenses by the Vegas Golden Knights’ foundation in a recent offering. However, it is compliant with the AGLC’s rules that say raffle expenditures cannot exceed 30% of total ticket revenue, inclusive of Canada’s goods and services tax.
Those Win50 figures lack context, though, the Oilers charity says. The foundation’s most recent audited financial statements offer more granularity than the CRA figures, and they show the service provider was paid slightly over $6 million (C$8.5 million) during the 2024-25 fiscal year after raffle expenses were netted out, representing just shy of 10% of total ticket sales.
That breakdown was not available in the CRA filings, and the foundation said the final net figures can fall between 8% and 10% of total raffle revenue. Based on that range, anywhere from roughly $22 million (C$30 million) to about $28 million (C$38 million) could have flowed to the service provider during that five-year stretch. Those dollars, the foundation noted, are reinvested into maintaining the 50/50 program’s technology, customer service and operational expertise.
Win50 has reportedly worked with the Oilers foundation since 2011, and it operates several other raffles in Alberta. Some of its other clients include the foundations of the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Elks; the Edmonton Oil Kings and Red Deer Rebels, both junior teams in the Western Hockey League; and Events Edmonton, which produces Taste of Edmonton.
The size of the Oilers foundation’s raffle expanded dramatically about six years ago. In July 2020, as COVID-19 lockdowns prevented fans from filling the stands at Rogers Place, the Oilers foundation board opted to take the 50/50 online. Instead of just home games, the offering became available for road matchups and non-event days, while merely requiring internet access inside of Alberta’s borders to participate.
When asked why the Oilers foundation chose to work with an entity controlled by the team’s owners, it provided the following statement from board chairman Corey Smith: “Win50’s innovation, operational expertise, resources and oversight have enabled us to evolve from a small, in-venue raffle into a province-wide program with hundreds of thousands of customers. … Ultimately, our partnership with Win50 allows us to maximize our impact in the community and deliver transformational support to more communities, more kids and more families in Oil Country who need it most.”
Since moving online in 2020, the Oilers foundation has raised nearly $62 million (C$84.2 million) for charity from raffle sales. That’s an almost 600% improvement over the previous five fiscal years, which saw the foundation donate a little over $9 million (C$12.5 million).
This year’s figures aren’t available yet, but Shipton did say raffle sales were “about on par with historical averages.”
If the Oilers can turn around their playoff fortunes, the foundation could see even larger numbers. Edmonton staved off elimination on Tuesday after a blowout victory against the Anaheim Ducks and trail 3-2 heading into Thursday night’s matchup in California. But keeping their championship hopes alive isn’t the only benefit of extending the series, especially if the Oilers force a Game 7 in Edmonton.
“You always are hoping for deeper playoff runs and more home games to get more fans out to your building,” Shipton said. “Certainly, that applies to the 50/50 and the dollars raised for charity.”