Colossal Fail: Cowboys lottery game winners not getting tickets after all

Nov 17, 2010, 9:45 am (24 comments)

Texas Lottery

By Todd Northrop

AUSTIN, Texas — Two winners of a Cowboys-themed scratch game from the Texas Lottery were advised by letter that they won 2011 Season tickets, but then the lottery informed them it was a clerical error, and they would not get the tickets.

Instead of season tickets, Delvin Delamar of Irving and Kathy Clark of Amarillo, the two winners, will be allowed to have seats in the NFL team's "war room" during draft day selections, be invited to a draft-day party, plus get free lodging and transportation to the events.

"It's a great prize, especially if you're a die-hard Cowboys fan, which I understand Mr. Delamar is," said Bobby Heith, a spokesman for the Texas Lottery Commission.

And it should be interesting, Delamar agreed.

"But to be honest, it was the tickets, getting to go all season, that's why I was so excited," he said Tuesday. "And I talked with Kathy in Amarillo, and she feels the same way I do — that we should be getting tickets."

Heath said the draft-day prize package is the second-most valuable among the second-chance awards:  it is valued at $50,000, along with $16,667 to cover taxes.

The top second-chance prize is the Wild Weekend Package.  That prize provides the winner and 19 friends a suite at a Cowboys home game, a tour of the stadium and the team's Valley Ranch practice facility, a pre-game party and transportation, including airfare for out-of-town guests.

The error came when lottery staff put together congratulatory letters to the winners and somehow added that "the prize includes a pair of 2011 Season Tickets ... located in the Club Seat Section between the 30-yard lines."

Individual game tickets in that section sell for $340 each, and season ticket holders must buy personal seat licenses costing thousands of dollars.

"It was a cut-and-paste error," Heith said. "As soon as we realized we'd made an unfortunate error, we immediately called the two winners and followed that up with a letter."

Delamar and Clark did claim the draft weekend prizes, but according to Heith they were both disappointed they wouldn't get the season tickets.

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

cablepunk

No comment other than:

 

Training
at Cowboy stadium was delayed after a player found an unknown white powdery substance on the ground. Training was suspended, police and
Homeland Security was called in. After analysis, experts determined that the white substance, unfamiliar to most of the players, was in fact
... the goal line. Practice will resume this afternoon after they decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again!

Todd's avatarTodd

Ha!  Don't worry, I'm sure the Cowboys will regroup.

sully16's avatarsully16

wow, I hope they at least got a free mug.

CARBOB

I know the lottery office made a mistake, but if I were the owner, I would pony up!!! Makes good publicity.

sully16's avatarsully16

Quote: Originally posted by CARBOB on Nov 17, 2010

I know the lottery office made a mistake, but if I were the owner, I would pony up!!! Makes good publicity.

yep

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Nov 17, 2010

wow, I hope they at least got a free mug.

Yeah, or maybe a one year membership to The Jelly of the Month Club.

C0w Pi3

I'd much rather have season ticket's then go sit in the "war room" on draft day.. unreal, I think they should pony up anyway.

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Quote: Originally posted by C0w Pi3 on Nov 17, 2010

I'd much rather have season ticket's then go sit in the "war room" on draft day.. unreal, I think they should pony up anyway.

Yeah, but then when you really think about it, the Jelly of the Month Club is the gift that keeps on giving.

maringoman's avatarmaringoman

This is hog wash, they should pay up pay up. I mean, its not like they are going to feel it anyway.

ttech10's avatarttech10

I think they should at least honor it, would make them look good. Plus with the price of all the concession stuff they'd only have to buy one Coke and nachos a game to make up the price of the seats. From the article it doesn't seem like it's that terrible of a thing, I was thinking it was actual winners of the scratch game that wouldn't be getting the tickets and not just second-chance winners. That would be a "colossal fail" as it would be the prize printed on the ticket and they wouldn't be getting it.

 

And are there really people who still want to go to Cowboys games?

Hermanus104's avatarHermanus104

Quote: Originally posted by CARBOB on Nov 17, 2010

I know the lottery office made a mistake, but if I were the owner, I would pony up!!! Makes good publicity.

Agreed. 

There are probably people out there who would think that the Lottery made this promise, and then decided that they did not want to pony up for whatever reason (possibly the Cowboys' poor record early this season), so they decided that there was a fictitious "clerical error."

PERDUE

Quote: Originally posted by cablepunk on Nov 17, 2010

No comment other than:

 

Training
at Cowboy stadium was delayed after a player found an unknown white powdery substance on the ground. Training was suspended, police and
Homeland Security was called in. After analysis, experts determined that the white substance, unfamiliar to most of the players, was in fact
... the goal line. Practice will resume this afternoon after they decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again!

Green laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laugh

                 U

                 R

               ILL!!!!

 

Green laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laughGreen laugh

PERDUE

WTF!!! Pony up and honor what was said in the letter. It's not like the organization can't afford it.

They also have a second chance drawing for the Houston Texans. 

Houston Texans:

http://www.houstontexans.com/fan-zone/texans-scratch-off-game/lottery-prizes.html

 

Dallas Cowboys 2nd chance drawing:

http://www.dallascowboys.com/texaslottery/texaslotteryPrizes.cfm

 

Dallas Cowboys "Wild Weekend" Package!
One (1) winner per drawing.

  • One (1) suite for twenty (20) guests at a Dallas Cowboys home game.
  • A private tour of the Dallas Cowboys practice facility at Valley Ranch.
  • A private tour of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium.
  • One (1) pre-game party for twenty (20) guests at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, including food and non-alcoholic beverages.
  • Airfare travel for winners outside of the Dallas/Fort Worth area (from the nearest major international airport within the 48 continental United States) for twenty (20) or ground transportation for winners within the Dallas/Fort Worth area for twenty (20).
  • One (1) night hotel accommodations (double occupancy) for twenty (20) guests for one (1) night.

Dallas Cowboys "Draft Party Trip" Packages for Two (2)!
Two (2) Winners per drawing.

  • The opportunity to go inside the War Room on Draft Day for an inside look at the Dallas Cowboys draft player evaluation and strategies by Jerry Jones.
  • Transportation on the Dallas Cowboys Luxury Bus to the official Dallas Cowboys Draft Party.
  • Two (2) VIP Passes to the Dallas Cowboys Draft Party.
  • Airfare travel for winners outside of the Dallas/Fort Worth area (from the nearest major International airport within the 48 continental United States) for two (2) or ground transportation for winners within the Dallas/Fort Worth area for two (2).
  • One (1) night hotel accommodations (double occupancy) for two (2) for one (1) night.

Pair of Season Tickets per winner for the next complete season of Cowboys home games (based on the date of prize fulfillment). (Between the 30 Yard Lines) Twenty (20) Winners per drawing.

Autographed Authentic Jerseys from Star Dallas Cowboys Players (One Standard Size) Three hundred and sixty (360) winners per drawing.

Dallas Cowboys Gift Cards, valued at $100 each, to be redeemed at Dallas Cowboys Official Pro Shops or online at www.dallascowboys.com. One thousand (1,000) winners per drawing.

dallascowboyfan's avatardallascowboyfan

war room....... season tickets....... war room.... season tickets..... how about you take your draft day prize and give me the cash value so I can go buy some more lottery ticketsBS....... this is wrong & JJ should make this right......

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