Great article on the Raptors partnership with McDonald’s and the consequence of adding some additional 3 point shooting in the off-season.  A rare look at some redemption numbers, which can be hard to come by for teams and sponsors along.

McDonald’s is out more than two million medium-size orders of french fries.

I love this note in the article:

Chuck Coolen, Head of marketing for McDonald’s in Eastern Canada, upon hearing of the DeMar DeRozan trade Googled “Kawhi Leonard”, not sure who that player was.  A reminder that sometimes the people making decisions may not be the most plugged into your team.

I recall back in my third year with the Minnesota Timberwolves (1991). We had a similar ticket-back giveaway. The team had just hired a new head coach (Jimmy Rogers) who promised a more run-and-gun style and more scoring. The giveaway (if memory serves me correctly) for a Big Mac was triggered when the Wolves scored 120 points and won the game….which occurred  3 times that season.

Check out the Financial Post article by Jake Edmiston that traces this promotion and its booming success for all parties involved.

Days before the Kawhi trade, McDonald's promised to hand out free fries whenever the Raptors hit 12 three-pointers. They figured they'd give away 700,000 medium fries in the season. Instead, it was 2 million. That's $5.8M in french fries. https://t.co/JQU1LYaUqT

— Jake Edmiston (@jakeedmiston) June 7, 2019