Ironman forfeits 2.76 million for illegal lottery

MrBond · Postby **MrBond** » Thu May 14, 2015 6:49 am

Oops...

http://triathlonmagazine.ca/news/ironma ... l-lottery/

Spirit Unleashed · Postby **Spirit Unleashed** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:24 am

How is their lottery different from other race lotteries?

purdy65 · Postby **purdy65** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:31 am

That's what I was trying to figure out Spirit!

eme · Postby **eme** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:09 am

purdy65 wrote:That's what I was trying to figure out Spirit!

Possibly licensing and who the money goes to (i.e. needs to go to a charity).

scottch · Postby **scottch** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:36 am

This could get interesting.

I didn't realize that races charged money for the chance to win entry to a race (naive, I guess). In Canada that would be against the Criminal Code as lottery licenses are usually only issued to Charitable and Religious organisations, not for-profit groups. Also, you have to make the purchase in the province where the lottery is being held.

I am guessing that accepting lottery tickets from participant outside of the state where the lottery event is taking place violates that's states laws. Ironman probably didn't get a lottery license for the draw either.

I wonder if there will be any lawsuits pop up from this in the states for people to try and reclaim their money, or how many other groups/races will be affected by this.

purdy65 · Postby **purdy65** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:53 am

Where does the money go for the NYC marathon and Chicago marathon lotteries?

Jwolf · Postby **Jwolf** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:55 am

The difference is WTC is a private company whereas races like NY Marathon are run by non-profits. The lottery fee that NY Marathon charges is much smaller and just a "processing fee" (which I guess they have to justify with their accountants as how much it costs to administer the lottery) and not intended to earn money, as the WTC's is ($50/lottery entry).

I'm not sure what marathons like Chicago or Houston charge for their lotteries (if at all) but I assume it's more like what NY does.