We decided to take this 3D gameplay experience into the real world and give New Yorkers the chance to actually shoot for cash. Working with the city of New York, we installed a custom-made basketball hoop that spit out money on a random NYC court. Hidden cameras captured people’s reactions when they suddenly saw coins and bills coming out of the hoop after hitting a shot. The entire stunt was turned into an online film and promoted through all of the NY Lottery’s social media channels.

We had to completely build this custom basketball hoop from scratch. The challenge was trying to develop a mechanism that shot out money but was small enough to fit into the backboard without being detected by someone shooting on it. Working with a production company in Brooklyn as well as the NYC parks department, we were able to engineer such a mechanism and develop an authentic recreation of New York’s iconic metal basketball backboards.

This custom backboard was put up on a Manhattan neighborhood outdoor court. Hidden cameras were set up around the court to capture people’s reactions when they saw money pour out of the hoop after they hit a shot. The backboard was remote controlled so we could determine how much money spilled out. If someone was just shooting layups then we only gave them a few coins. If they hit a half court shot, we shot out $10 bills.

Total sales as of 24/4/17: $4,485,696.00

Number of tickets sold as of 24/4/17: 2,242,848

Video impressions across all digital partners as of 23/4/17: 8.4 Million+

Completed views across all digital partners as of 23/4/17: 5.4 Million+