Tennessee Man Hits Fanatics Free-to-Win Game

Fanatics has developed a reputation for creating fun and exciting bonus promotions in the spirit of giving value to loyal sports bettors. As a case in point, they recently offered a "Free-to-Play" promotion that was tied to the MLB All-Star Game, which was played on July 16, 2024. The promo game was called "Fanatics 5 Jackpot" and this version of it was more specifically tied to the Home Run Derby Contest, which was held the day before the All-Star Game.

Note: Fanatics 5 Jackpot is an intermittent promotion that Fanatics Sportsbook offers every Saturday and for special sports events. Normally, the prize pool would be $250,000. However, the Home Run Derby is considered a "special" sports event, prompting the operator to increase the prize pool to a cool $1,000,000.

The contest was made available to Fanatics sportsbook customers in participating states. The objective of the contest is to answer five (5) questions with the fifth question serving as the tie-breaker. In this promo contest, the tie-breaking question was: "Predict the length of Adolis Garcia‘s longest home run in round one."

Tennessee Man Hits the Fanatics 5 Jackpot

When the smoke cleared and Teoscar Hernández of the Los Angeles Dodgers was declared the winner, a Tennessee man was named the winner of the Fanatics 5 jackpot. The man is Royden Hudson, and his bank account will be increasing by an amazing $900K.

To win the contest, he correctly selected the players who won the first four (4) Home Run Derby matchups of the first round. For the fifth and final question, he predicted that Garcia's longest first-round homer would be 440 feet. It came in at 435 feet, close enough for Hudson to claim the top prize.

In a press release through the Fanatics media department, Hudson stated:

" “I have enjoyed playing these new free-to-play games on the Fanatics app. I took a chance and went with my gut in selecting Adolis Garcia and because he launched a 435-foot home run, I won this life-changing money and I am going to take my wife to Hawaii.” 

It's worth noting that Fanatics is required by law to report the winnings to the IRS via a form W-2G. Hudson will subsequently need to claim the winnings on his 2024 state and federal tax returns. If he has incurred any prior net gambling losses in 2024, he will be permitted to use those net losses to offset this huge win.

About Fanatics

In 2023, Fanatics, a popular sportswear manufacturer, purchased the U.S., online gambling assets of PointsBet, an Australian-based operator. After the purchase, they updated their online casino and sportsbook platforms and rebranded their websites.

Today, the operator is providing sports and or casino betting services in 21 U.S. states. They are operating among a dozen operators that are licensed in Tennessee. The popularity of the brand has been steadily rising over the past year due in large part to the introduction of value-added promotions such as the aforementioned Fanatics 5 Jackpot. Fanatics 5 Daily is another promo that has been very popular with U.S. sports bettors.