Fumble: Washington Commanders say ‘bank error’ caused raffle winner’s check to bounce
ROCKVILLE, Md. – Football can be a game of funny bounces, but one Washington Commanders fan was not laughing after the check he received for winning a raffle during the team’s season opener bounced.
Commanders officials were red-faced after a check for $14,822 paid to Drew Shipley for winning the team’s 50/50 charity raffle on Sept. 11 was returned for insufficient funds, WUSA-TV reported.
“It was quite shocking,” Shipley, of Rockville, Maryland, told the television station.
The Commanders confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that there was an issue and blamed it on a “bank error,” USA Today reported. The team sent the money to Shipley digitally, according to the newspaper.
“We reached out directly to the fan as soon as we learned about it and have wired the money directly to his account and apologized for the inconvenience,” a team spokesperson wrote to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “It was a bank error, and we are following up with a bank to learn why it happened and ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
One-half of the 50/50 raffle pot goes to the Washington Commanders Charitable Foundation and the other half goes to the fan with the winning numbers, WUSA reported.
Shipley had waited nearly a month to receive his half of the 50/50 payout. In total, the team collected $29,645 at FedEx Field as the Commanders opened the 2022 season with a 28-22 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He received the check via FedEx on Oct. 13 and deposited it with his credit union. Four days later, the credit union notified Shipley that the check had bounced, WUSA reported. Not only did it put his bank account into negative numbers, he also was assessed a $15 bad check fee.
“Quite maddening,” Shipley told the television station. “It took this long to get it, I can’t believe a professional franchise would end up” doing something like that.
“Obviously somebody dropped the ball,” Shipley said.
