Eskimos 50/50 jackpot to start at $70k

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Eskimos 50/50 jackpot, presented by belairdirect, will start at $70,000 this Friday, June 22 when the Green and Gold take on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Kickoff is 8 p.m. Game day presented by Global News.

To start the take-home jackpot at $70,000, the Eskimos seeded the pot with $140,000.

The first 7,000 fans (over the age of 18) through the gates on game day will receive a $20 ticket — good for 10 tickets into the draw.

To accommodate demand, the Eskimos will add an additional 36 ticket sellers on game day, for a total of 100 located throughout the stadium concourse. Gates will open at 6 p.m., two hours ahead of kickoff rather than the usual one hour before for the anticipated crowd.

Tickets into the draw are sold one for $5, three for $10 or 10 for $20.

Last July, Quentin and Samantha Ebertz won a then record-setting $435,919.50 take-home jackpot that included unclaimed winnings carried over from a previous game.

The remaining proceeds are given to the Edmonton Huskies, Edmonton Wildcats, University of Alberta Golden Bears, Football Alberta and the Eskimo Alumni Association to support the growth and sustainability of amateur football in Northern Alberta. In 2017, the Eskimos donated a record $840,000 to amateur football through the Eskimos 50/50, presented by belairdirect.

The Edmonton Eskimos do not take a profit from the 50/50 program.