From the NY Daily News:
Nick's name was drawn in a fund-raising raffle for which the boys' dad had bought three tickets, but Nate took the shot since his brother had stepped outside.
So there was a name on the ticket then.
If that’s the case. I’ll agree with it. The raffles I’ve seen were by number and the person in possession of the winning number wins. You could hand the ticket to anyone you wanted to.
Thank you for the added information.