UPDATE: A winner has claimed the jackpot.
The Edmonton Eskimos crushed a CFL record on Friday night, with the 50/50 jackpot hitting a whopping $435,919.50.
The winning ticket number – 235466C – was released early Saturday morning. Because so many tickets were sold, the football club could not release the winning number at the game.
The person holding the winning ticket is asked to visit the Edmonton Eskimos team store on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. For full details on how and where to claim the prize, visit the Eskimos’ website.
By kickoff time for the game between the Eskimos and the Ottawa Redblacks at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, the Eskimos tweeted that the 50/50 jackpot had ballooned to a staggering $265,000.
Shortly after 9:15 p.m. and just before halftime, the jackpot had swelled to over $350,000, setting a new Canadian Football League record that was already held by the Eskimos.
READ MORE: Edmonton Eskimos anticipate huge crowd Friday with 50/50 jackpot starting at $82K
The prize money is a significant spike from the $82,060 50/50 prize from the Eskimos’ season opener that went unclaimed, allowing the jackpot to start at that benchmark Friday.
Those who take home the prize aren’t the only winners; the other half goes to local football organizations.
READ MORE: Where’s the other half of the Eskimos’ 50/50 jackpot going?
This is the second time in three years the Edmonton Eskimos’ 50/50 prize has carried over. The most recent time was in July 2014 when the jackpot rose to a mind-boggling $348,534. Connor Croken, 20, ended up winning the money.
READ MORE: 50/50 frenzy: Why Edmonton is so obsessed with playing the odds
Watch below: Meet the 20-year-old who won the Eskimos’ $340K 50/50 jackpot
Earlier this week, the Eskimos told Global News that over 60 people would be on the concourse selling tickets on Friday night, and that no seller would be alone.
The team also indicated there would be a different plan to deal with those who wished to buy large quantities of tickets.
“One of the things that kind of brought things to a halt was when the, sort of, high rollers showed up and said, ‘I’ll take $100 worth,'” Allan Watt, vice president of marketing and communications with the football club, said on Wednesday. “So we’re going to direct those people to tables on either side of the concourse – Gate 2 and Gate 13 – where we’ll be able to handle that right away.”
In the second half of the game, the team tweeted the official attendance for the game was 36,260, the biggest crowd for a CFL game so far this season.
View a photo gallery from Friday night’s Eskimos game below:
-With files from Caley Ramsay
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