Car dealership pays $420,000 for Seahawks shutout
The Seattle Seahawks have the most dominate home field advantage in the NFL thanks to their thunderous fan base, aptly dubbed The 12th Man. To promote Jet Chevrolet, General Manager Mike Gates promised 12 contestants $35,000 a piece if the Seahawks shutout the New York Jets yesterday. When the hawks lay a whoopin’ on the Giants 23-0 in New York, Gates began to make phone calls to insurance and promotions companies.
"This is crazy," said Jim Johnson, one of the owners of the dealership. "We never expected that we'd actually be giving away the money." (1) ESPN
If the promotion had gone as originally planned Johnson would have gotten off the hook; he initially wanted to run the shutout contest last week when the Seahawks lost to the San Francisco 49ers, but didn’t have time to work out the legalities behind the deal in time.
Before the Giants game, Jet Chevrolet offered anyone a single free entry into the contest, or 100 entries for purchasing a new or used vehicle. Johnson said 20 people bought cars during the promotion and 12 people entered the drawing without a purchase. (2)
Jet Chevrolet has every intention of doling out $35,000 to 12 lucky winners for a total payout of $420,000.
"I'm a man of my word," Gates said. (3)
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