Utah promotional activities have specific free-entry and mechanics conditions. Review the current definitions before adding paid or simulated-gambling features.
Planning a free giveaway or photo/video competition open to Utah 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: . Sources are linked beside the guidance they support. This is an informational overview, not legal advice for a particular campaign.
Utah’s promotional-activity conditions
Utah’s current gambling definitions are in §76-9-1401. The promotional-activity provisions address a limited-duration activity ancillary to a business, a genuine product or service connection, and no required purchase for participation or advantage.
Read the complete definition when structuring a giveaway. Free entry is important, but it does not independently resolve restrictions on particular devices or simulated-gambling displays. This guide concerns ordinary free brand promotions, not those game formats.
Sources: Utah §76-9-1401, effective May 6, 2026.
Describe a free submission contest on its own terms
A form collecting photos or videos for judging or public voting should explain that process accurately. As practical rules guidance, publish eligibility, submission and voting dates, criteria, vote limits and tie handling.
Keep paid votes and entry charges outside the free format described here. If a random award or game-like instant reveal is added, review that feature separately rather than assuming that the judged portion determines the whole campaign’s classification.
Sources: Utah definitions and promotional-activity scope.
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 Utah'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.
Nearby sweepstakes law guides
Planning a promotion across state lines? Review the guides for nearby jurisdictions.
Revup
Revup helps you collect entries and manage promotion workflows. Match your campaign settings and official rules to the requirements of your actual promotion.
