Virtually all state laws define illegal gambling as having three basic elements – prize, chance and consideration. All three of these elements must be present for a promotion to be considered gambling. The job of sweepstakes creators is to eliminate one or more of these elements from every sweepstakes they prepare.
Prize
It’s usually difficult to eliminate the prize from a sweepstakes because the prize provides the incentive for entering and the reward for winning. It’s the carrot on the stick. However, certain sweepstakes involve a less tangible reward, such as “bragging rights” or being named “winner for the ...