A sweepstake is technically a lottery in which the prize is financed through the tickets sold. In the United States the word has become associated with promotions where prizes are given away for free. In other words, they specifically do not require a purchase to enter (these are called prize draws in the United Kingdom). Sweepstakes sponsors are very careful to dis-associate themselves from any suggestion that players must pay to enter, as this would bring them into conflict with lottery laws. The popularity of the term sweepstakes may derive from the Irish Sweepstakes, which was very popular throughout the world from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Sweepstakes typically involve aggressive enticements to enter a contest for fantastically large prizes; there should be no cost to the entrant to enter for the prize, with the exception of possibly being placed on a promotional mailing list. Winners should also not be required to pay a fee of any type to receive their prize.
Among the commonly known sweepstakes in the United States are the American Family Publishers Sweepstakes, Publisher's Clearing House and Reader's Digest Sweepstakes, each of which strongly persuade entrants to purchase magazine subscriptions by placing stickers on contest entry cardstock, while promising multi-million dollar winners who will be "announced on TV". The American Family Publishers sweepstakes has traditionally used paid advertisements during NBC's The Tonight Show to announce its grand prize winners (for many years, its celebrity spokesman was Ed McMahon).
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Contests and Sweepstakes :: Gambling

Bananalotto.co.uk - Free online lottery with a daily chance to play for £1 million and other prizes.
Compaholics - Guide to a wide variety of online competitions.
Meta Description: [ Compaholics, the competition site with 1000's of competitions, prize draws, games and freebies with lots of prizes to win - all fun and free to enter. ]
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Comps.org - Listing of currently valid UK competitions and winning slogans from previous competitions.
Dotcomper - Offer slogans along with what the latest competitions are and where to find them. Requires registration.
Meta Description: [ UK Postal Competitions - full listings, Entry Forms, discussion forums and a Slogan Tiebreaker database of over 40,000 Prize Winning Slogans ]
Loquax's Quick Picks - A collection of online competitions and prize draws.
Meta Description: [ The best UK competitions for cars, cash, holidays, PCs and TVs - Loquax's Prize Picks ]
MyOffers - Prize draws and online competitions - win flights, cars and money.
Meta Description: [ Win competitions and prizes online with MyOffers :: The UK's Leading Prize Draw Website ]
Prize Focus - Automatic UK competitions and prize draw entry service.
Meta Description: [ Enter UK competitions without lifting a finger. Prize Focus gives you automated entry to over 500 big prize UK competitions a year. ]
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Tell Us The Score - Football tote where you guess the final score in future games.
Tombola UK - Offering free to play, instant win games.
UK Competitions - Offering a range of competitions from cash to music. Includes winners board and members club.
Meta Description: [ The UK resource for free competitions online, enter contests and win prizes. ]
UK Wins - A to Z listing of the best competitions in the UK with daily updates.
Meta Description: [ UK Competitions, Esure Car Insurance, UK Comps, How to Make Money off the web Free Cinema Tickets Win a dvd player competition win a laptop win a car Win a Bike UK Prizes ]
Winspiration - Competition tiebreakers: help, inspiration, ideas and past winning examples.
Meta Description: [ Help with consumer competition tiebreakers and
slogans. Includes lists of ideas to get started, plus previous winning examples. ]
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