How One Man Rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Over $24 Million in Prizes

A Matt Damon movie about the McDonald’s Monopoly game might sound like a chore to watch, but the story that the upcoming film is based on is absolutely fascinating. At the heart of this tale lies a conspiracy connecting an ex-cop, the mafia, St. Jude’s hospital, and a whole lot of milkshakes.

The Big Scandal Involved the Big M

Monopoly is a long, dull, painful game in which players compete to see who can survive an unfair economy the longest.

As such, it’s hardly a surprise that the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion has historically been similarly broken…

The Long Game Took 12 Years

For twelve years, almost nobody legitimately won prizes from the Monopoly game. Instead, nearly all winners were in some way connected to one man who was secretly stealing the most valuable prize tokens.

Coming Soon to Theaters With Matt and Ben

The story of the big Monopoly heist is so bizarre that it’s tapped for both a biopic film starring Matt Damon, with Ben Affleck directing, and a competing HBO documentary series to be directed by Mark Wahlberg.

Hunting for Boardwalk

During their Monopoly campaign, McDonald’s gives customers themed tokens with their food purchases. Most of these tokens are worthless, and the average customer will be happy if they win a free ice cream. But some tokens gift prizes like luxury cars, Super Bowl tickets and huge cash prizes.

But for years, you could only win one of these prizes if you knew the man in charge (and I don’t mean Ronald McDonald).