Think you can make a halfcourt shot in front of the fans at halftime? Odds are 50-1 against you

Every night, random fans are picked out of the stands at games big and small to participate in contests that test their skill and promise a prize, sometimes a big one, if they’re successful.

Halfcourt shooting contests have a long history at high school, college and professional basketball games. In recent years, contests requiring fans to putt a golf ball the length of the court into a small slot have become popular. That’s how a fan at a recent Nebraska game recently won a $75,000 Porsche.

Some numbers associated with these in-game contests:

1993

The year Chicago Bulls fan Don Calhoun swished a shot of about 80 feet, from the opposite free-throw line, to win $1 million. The Bulls and sponsors paid Calhoun after the insurance company reneged, saying he was disqualified because he had played in a handful of junior college basketball games. Calhoun’s million-dollar shot is considered the moment in-game contests took off in popularity.

1 in 2

Chances a random fan will make a free throw, according to contest insurer SCA Promotions.

1 in 7

Chances a random fan will make a 3-point shoot, according to SCA.

1 in 50

Chances a random fan will make a halfcourt shot, according to contest the insurer Interactive Promotions Group. SCA Promotions sets the chances at 1 in 49.

1 in 100

Chances a random fan will make a length-of-the-court putt (94 feet) into a 3-by-3 inch slot, according to IPG and SCA.

1 in 200

Chances a random hockey fan will make a shot from center ice into a 4-inch slot at the bottom of a board covering the goal 89 feet away, according to SCA.

$1,000

Estimated insurance premium for SCA to cover the risk of having to give away $10,000 in a halfcourt shooting contest, according to SCA vice president Chris Hamman. The premium would cover five attempts by five different contestants.

$16,200

Insurance premium paid to IPG to cover the risk of Porsche of Omaha dealership having to give away a $75,000 Porsche Macan to Travis Weber, who made a 94-foot putt into a 3-by-3 inch slot in Nebraska’s Putt for a Porsche contest. The premium covered eight putting attempts by different contestants over eight games.

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