California Sweepstakes Laws: Rules & Requirements

California sweepstakes guidance for free online giveaways: no purchase advantage, clear prize notices and separate rules for judged submissions.

Planning a free giveaway or photo/video competition open to California residents? This guide focuses on ordinary commercial promotions with free entry, including random drawings and submission contests using judges or public voting. Paid entries or votes, purchase-linked promotions, charitable raffles and regulated prizes need separate analysis.

Editorial review: September 11, 2026. Sources are linked beside the guidance they support. This is an informational overview, not legal advice for a particular campaign.

Free entry and purchase advantages

California’s Attorney General says legitimate sweepstakes are free and chance-based: businesses must offer an opportunity to enter without cost, and buying something must not improve the entrant’s chances of winning. A pay-per-call number is not a free entry route.

Apply that guidance to the complete experience. The advertisement, landing page and confirmation message should not push entrants to believe they must place an order to finish entering.

Sources: California DOJ sweepstakes and prize notifications.

Prize notices and submission contests

The Attorney General also warns against payments demanded to receive a prize. State the actual prize and who is sponsoring it; distinguish a selected winner who still needs eligibility verification from someone merely invited to enter.

For a free judged photo/video competition, explain the criteria and judging process in the rules. For public voting, describe vote limits, moderation, the voting period and ties. These drafting steps help entrants understand the format; they are not a claim that every voting contest is legally pure skill.

Sources: California DOJ guidance on prize claims.

Registration and campaigns open to other states

For ordinary free commercial sweepstakes, the familiar prize-value filing regimes are in New York, Florida and Rhode Island. That does not remove California's disclosure and conduct rules described above, or special rules for a different industry or format. See the registration guide and its sources for that distinction.

The state-law directory links to all 50 states and DC. A “void where prohibited” line does not itself define your eligible audience or complete a required filing.

Before opening entries

Use these practical drafting and administration steps alongside the applicable state rules:

• Identify the sponsor, eligible entrants, entry period and advertised prize.
• Explain the free entry method and how winners are selected. For submissions, describe judging criteria or voting stages and tie handling.
• Make advertisements, the form and full rules agree; do not imply an entrant has already won.
• Plan verification, notification and fulfillment, and retain the rules and selection records.

Federal advertising standards also apply. The FTC warns against misleading purchase prompts and prize claims; see its advertising guidance. Tax reporting and channel-specific rules are covered in the national sweepstakes guide.