50/50 Raffles at Booster Club Events: Rules and Game-Day Steps

Where 50/50 Raffles Are Not Allowed

A 50/50 raffle is illegal in any state that prohibits charitable raffles (Alabama, Hawaii, and Utah; see Are Booster Club Raffles Legal). Several states that allow raffles still rule out a typical booster club 50/50:

In other states, a 50/50 is generally treated as a raffle and follows the state’s raffle permit, eligibility, and reporting rules. Some states have rules written specifically for 50/50 drawings. This varies by state; the club’s state page has the details.

Before the Season

1. Confirm the state allows cash-prize raffles and that the club is eligible.
2. Get the permit or registration. In states that license each raffle, ask whether one permit covers a season of drawings or each game needs its own.
3. Confirm with the athletic director that the district and the stadium or gym allow 50/50 sales, and whether the visiting school’s boosters may sell.
4. Approve the plan by board vote: games covered, ticket prices, sellers, cutoff time, count location, payout method, and unclaimed-prize rule.
5. Recruit adult volunteer sellers. Check the district’s policy before letting students sell; in California a raffle must be supervised by a person 18 or older.
6. Buy double-numbered roll tickets (each ticket has two matching halves) and seller aprons or lockable bags.

Game-Day Procedure

1. Sign out supplies. Each seller signs the log for a ticket roll (starting and ending numbers) and a bag with no starting cash, or a recorded starting amount.
2. Sell. For each sale, the seller tears off the buyer’s half and drops the matching half into the seller’s bag or the drawing container. Bundle prices (for example, 3 for $5) are sold as consecutive numbers.
3. Stop at a published cutoff. Announce the cutoff in advance (for example, the end of the third quarter) so the count can finish before the drawing.
4. Check in. Each seller returns the roll, the stubs, and the money. The treasurer records the ending ticket number.
5. Count with two people. The treasurer and a second counter count the money in a private location, compare it to tickets sold (ending number minus starting number, adjusted for bundles), and both sign the count sheet.
6. Announce the pot. The prize is 50% of the counted gross, not of an estimate. Announce the total pot and the prize amount.
7. Draw in public. A person with no tickets draws one stub from the mixed container in view of the crowd or the press box. Announce the number and post it on the club’s website and social media with a claim deadline.
8. Pay the winner. Pay by check from the club account when possible, which creates a record. If paying cash, have the winner sign a receipt showing the amount and ticket number. Collect a Form W-9 for any prize of $2,000 or more.
9. Secure the club’s half. Seal the club’s share in a deposit bag with the count sheet, both counters’ signatures, and the bag number, and deposit it under the club’s cash policy.

Count Sheet

See Handling Cash at Booster Club Events for deposit timing and the two-person rule.

Federal Tax Rules for 50/50 Prizes

A 50/50 prize is a raffle prize. For prizes paid in 2026, the club files Form W-2G when the prize is $2,000 or more and at least 300 times the price of one ticket. The threshold was $600 for prizes paid before 2026. The club may subtract the ticket price when testing the $2,000 threshold. Smaller game-night pots fall below it, but a large playoff or homecoming pot can exceed it.

Example. Tickets sell at $5 each or 3 for $10. The gross is $5,000 and the prize is $2,500. Whether the winning ticket was a single at $5 (500 times) or part of a bundle at $3.33 (750 times), the 300-times test is met. The prize less the wager is still over $2,000, so the club files Form W-2GForm W-2GCertain Gambling Winnings: the information return a club files with the IRS and gives to the winner when a raffle or other gaming prize reaches the federal reporting threshold.All terms, entering “50-50 drawing” as the type of wager. Proceeds are under $5,000, so no regular withholding applies. If the winner will not provide a taxpayer identification number, the club must backup withhold 24% ($600) and pay the winner $1,900.

Second example. A $3,000 pot produces a $1,500 prize. No Form W-2G is required for a 2026 payment.

Any withholding is deposited and reported on Form 945. See Federal Tax Rules for Raffles.

Annual Return and UBIT

The club reports the full pot as gross gaming income on its Form 990-series return, and the winner’s half as a prize expense. On Form 990-EZ, gross gaming income is line 6a and direct gaming expenses, including prizes, are line 6c. A season of 50/50 drawings can push a club over the Form 990-N gross receipts limit or the $15,000 Schedule G Part III threshold. See Which Form 990 a Booster Club Files.

A drawing at every home game may be “regularly carried on.” Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Publication 3079 states that weekly gaming is regularly carried on, while gaming only at an annual event is not. Regular gaming income is still not subject to unrelated business income tax (UBITUBITUnrelated business income tax: the federal tax a 501(c)(3) owes on net income from a business it regularly carries on that is not substantially related to its exempt purpose. Most volunteer-run booster club fundraising falls under an exception.All terms) when substantially all the work is done by unpaid volunteers, and Publication 3079 recommends keeping records of hours worked by volunteers and any paid workers. Free tickets, meals, game passes, or account credits given to sellers can count as compensation. See Unrelated Business Income Tax for Booster Clubs.

Electronic 50/50 Systems

Some vendors sell handheld or online systems that sell 50/50 tickets by card and display a live jackpot. Whether a booster club may use one depends on state law, which may address electronic raffles separately or prohibit online raffle sales. California, for example, prohibits conducting a raffle via the Internet. See Online and Electronic Raffles before signing any contract.

Event payment tools built for schools and nonprofits can record each 50/50 sale and produce a count report, which helps the treasurer reconcile, but they do not make an otherwise illegal raffle legal.