Raptors cost McDonald’s $5.8 million in french fry sales

While the Toronto Raptors are coming oh-so-close to their first NBA championship, they’re also costing McDonald’s millions in french fry sales.

The Toronto Raptors are all smiles after taking a 3-to-1 lead in the 2019 NBA Finals. The same cannot be said for their food partner, McDonald’s.

That’s because in their run to the precipice of NBA greatness, the fast food giant has been losing millions in sales. Why? It has to do with a promotion with the team that involves its famous menu item, french fries.

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Before the season tipped off, Chuck Coolen, the head of marketing for McDonald’s in Canada, negotiated and signed a promotional deal with the Raptors. The promotion went that if the Raptors made 12 three-pointers in a game, McDonald’s locations in Ontario would give out free medium fries.

Then end result? McDonald’s has given away over two million free fries. According to Fox Business, the cost of a medium fry at an Ontario McDonald’s is $2.89. Multiply that by two million fries, and McDonald’s lost nearly $5.8 million in sales, all thanks to this promotion.

Oh, it gets better (or worse) for the fast food joint.

The “free fries for 12 three-pointers” promotion extended into the playoffs, which meant that McDonald’s has given away 80,000 more free medium fries. It’s gotten so big that some locations in Ontario have had to add extra staff just to give out the free fries.

“Do we want to stop now?” Mike Forman, who owns for stores in Ontario, told the Financial Post. “No, we don’t want to stop now. This is good.” This is probably the only time when franchise owners are actually happy about losing money.