Dodgers Raffles That Just Began Already Proving Popular
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Yolie and Gilbert Molina bought $10 worth of raffle tickets Friday at Dodger Stadium, which just joined a number of ballparks around the country that's using raffles to raise money for charity.
"It makes it more than just a baseball game," Yolie said.
It's a growing trend called the 50-50 raffle.
It became legal in California after the passage of a Senate bill that allows half the money from raffles sales to go toward charity and the other 5o percent to one winner.
Critics say it's not fair because nonprofit groups that aren't tied to sports teams with charity foundations have to give 90 percent of tickets sales to charity and 10 percent to prizes.
The California Association of Non-Profits tried to block the bill last year.
"Why should sports teams, some of the wealthiest corporations there are, why should they operate under special, more advantageous rules?" asked Nancy Berlin with the nonprofits association.
"Yesterday, we bought $20 worth," said Al Tom of Long Beach. "And today we bought another 20."
Elizabeth Vidal was one of the ticket sellers at Thursday's game, the first time the Dodgers offered the raffle.
The winning ticket holder ended up walking away with $8,000.
Vidal says the crowd got pumped after the prize inched past $5,000.
"I couldn't go back to the section I was assigned because I was being stopped left and right," Vidal said. "And they were just yelling at me."
"Even if you don't win, it's not a big deal," Gilbert Molina said. "You know it's going to a good cause, the other 50 percent of it."