Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes have been on the minds of thousands of British people for the last couple of weeks, and that’s because of the Grand National race which was run over the weekend. My own sweepstakes entry for the Grand National didn’t win me any prizes, but it did make me think about these simple lottery games.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with sweepstakes, they involve participants being randomly given a selection in return for a cash contribution to the prize pool. When the event has taken place, the holder of the winning selection receives the entire prize pool. In some sweepstakes competitions the prize pool is divided so that prizes can be awarded to the winner and to several runners-up.
Although sweepstakes lottery games are often played in offices and social clubs, the sweepstakes model has also been successfully used as a way to promote businesses. In this case participants do not pay to enter, as that would make it an official lottery and subject to all sorts of rules and regulations. Instead, participants enter business promotional sweeps for free and stand to win a sought-after prize such as an iPod, car, holiday, or set of Encyclopaedias.
The business operating such competitions benefit because they are able to quickly build a database of people who, by entering, have expressed an interest in owning the prize on offer. This mailing list can therefore be used for sales purposes, or even sold on to other companies for a profit.
Lottery enthusiasts who haven’t participated in a sweepstakes competition are missing out. You can often find promotional sweeps advertised in Sunday newspapers and magazines, and entry forms are commonly sent through the mail, so invest a few minutes in keeping your eyes open for opportunities and you could well win a valuable prize without any outlay whatsoever.
Article Last Updated: 29/05/2008 11:41:26
