"Get your 50/50 raffle ticket!"

If you've been to a baseball game, you've heard it. It's a lottery with decent odds, a good cause, and you're already there anyway — so why not? Five tickets, please.

I got curious: what do the numbers actually look like? How much do these raffles generate, and how important are they to the foundations that run them? What I learned is how those tickets are quietly powering some of the most significant charitable fundraising in professional sports.

I pulled the 2024 IRS Form 990 filings for all 30 MLB team foundations and found 20 that report gaming data — both gross raffle revenue and net income after paying out winners. Here's what I found.

Which foundations raise the most?

Sorted by net gaming income — the amount the foundation actually keeps after paying the winner — the gap between top and bottom is enormous.

Under Ontario's charitable gaming regulations, Jays Care runs multi-week lottery campaigns where ticket sales accumulate for weeks before a single winner is drawn.

Which foundations depend on raffles most?

Net gaming income as a percentage of total foundation revenue tells a different story. Here, small-market teams with lean budgets often outperform their larger counterparts — because the raffle is doing more of the heavy lifting.

The Rays and Brewers sit at the top of the percentage chart despite generating far less in absolute dollars than the Dodgers or Diamondbacks.

The Red Sox Foundation raised $12.6 million in 2024 — among the highest totals in baseball — but only 7.7% came from gaming.

What's next?

I've started tracking 50/50 results for the 2026 season, and I will publish those results soon. I'm guessing because of laws that regulate charitable gaming activities, teams publish their results with the winning amount and/or gross amount raised along with the winning ticket number and if the prize was claimed. For all of you who buy tickets, make sure to check your numbers - winners have 30 days to claim their prize or the money reverts back to the organization!

The MLB All-Star Legacy Initiative

As I noted in the previous post, MLB and host clubs have given nearly $125M to local communities through the All-Star Legacy initiative since its inception, dating back to 1997. I went back and looked at press releases and news stories to document the impact these efforts have made.

Phillies Charities Snapshot

With the 2026 All-Star Game happening in Philadelphia, it's a good time to look at Phillies Charities. First, though, an interesting aspect of the All-Star festivities: since 1997, MLB has run the Legacy Initiative in partnership with the host club to support local organizations as well

Miami Marlins Foundation Snapshot

Another story from childhood. This was back in the day before my family had a desktop computer. I must have been 8 years old, and the way we would find out what little league team we were on was from a phone call from the coach, who would have to

Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation Snapshot

Do I need to add an asterisk? I was 13 when Cal Ripken Jr. played his 2,131st consecutive game and passed Lou Gehrig's record. One of the things I remember about that time is how some people thought the record needed an asterisk because of the strike-