Bob Hamman founded SCA Promotions, Dallas, in 1986; it's now one of the world's leading prize fulfillment and conditional prize promotion companies. His 70-person company provides insurance for 4,500 promotions a year, including contracting to pay the winners of $1 million hole-in-one golf or free-throw basketball contests. Coincidentally, Mr. Hamman is a nine-time world bridge champion and currently ranks No. 1 in the world.
Age: 60.
Track record: Coverage of $10 billion in potential prizes; payouts of $60 million.
Fact: Most companies offering prizes in promotions can easily afford to pay out big prizes, but individual departments are limited by their budgets and prefer to outsource payments.
Edge: An ability to quickly make real-time judgments and take accurate positions on odds.
Hot: Usage-oriented promotions like prepaid phone cards and movie tickets. Marketers give them away, and we contract to pay for the ones actually used.
Watch for: An explosion of Internet-based promotions allowing individuals to get
