Tip: Sweepstakes, Contests, and Lotteries. Ohmy!

So, you're looking to generate some energy and buzz for your game and you're considering running a promotion, possibly a random drawing or a sweepstakes tied to the game. You see everyone in every industry running some form of sweepstakes, and you hear them advertised on radio ads and on TV.

Please be careful, though. Running a sweepstakes or promotion can have a big upside, but if you don't comply with the legal requirements, you might find your company's name splashed across the blogosphere as violating criminal laws.

While the specific laws governing sweepstakes and lotteries are different for each state, the laws generally define a lottery as a promotion having three characteristics: (i) a prize; (ii) a random winner; and (iii) a payment for a chance to win. If your promotion has those three elements, you could be running a-foul of your state's lottery criminal laws.

You probably have seen promotions talking about "No Purchase Necessary". That's an effort to not have the "payment" portion. Please know, though, that certain court cases and attorney general opinions have held that payment for a chance to win can be the payment for a product that came with a chance to win. So, just because your customer is getting a game valued at fifty-dollars (plus a chance to win) does not mean you are safely out of the woods.

On top of that issue, there are many others that can derail your promotion. Are you bonded in New York? Florida? Rhode Island? Is your promotion targeting people under the age of 18? Are there specific prize restrictions? Fun stuff to think about, right?

So, before you launch your marketing campaign announcing your sweepstakes, check with your attorney to make sure that you are running a legal sweepstakes and not an illegal lottery.