Question:
A new ASB fund-raiser is being considered where individuals will pay for a chance to throw a football a certain distance and whoever throws it furthest wins a prize. Does this fall into the category of a game of chance?Response: School districts, including student clubs, are not authorized to participate in raffles because, unlike the local PTA, they are not nonprofit organizations exempt from state tax as defined in the Franchise Tax Code. Rather, school districts are exempt from tax by virtue of being a government entity.
Penal Code 320.5, related to raffles, specifically states:
"…For purposes of this section, "raffle" means a scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance among persons who have paid money for paper tickets that provide the opportunity to win these prizes, where all of the following are true: Each ticket is sold with a detachable coupon or stub, and both the ticket and its associated coupon or stub are marked with a unique and matching identifier. Winners of the prizes are determined by draw from among the coupons or stubs described in paragraph (1) that have been detached from all tickets sold for entry in the draw…"
A game of chance is defined in the dictionary as "a game in which the outcome is determined by chance rather than by the skill of its players". Basically, it’s paying for a chance to win, and as described in Penal Code, there are tickets involved where the winner of the prize is selected truly by chance or "luck".
But, what you are describing is more of a game in which the winner will be determined by skill, not chance. To us, there appears to be a difference between this game and a game of chance, although there is probably a fine line drawn between the two. If you decide to go ahead with this fund-raiser, be sure not to use the terms "game of chance" as you do in your question…we suggest simply calling it a game or a game of skill. Also, you may want to think about asking the boosters group or parents group to sponsor the fund-raiser, as then if there is any confusion on whether or not this is a game of chance, there are not any issues to worry about!!! It is better to be safe than sorry.
10/22/08
