Thousands of sweepstakes competitions get called every day. They have become one of the most common and enduring ways for players to take a chance, where they can get anything from books to travel tickets or plain, simple cash. Sweepstakes have come a long way to get where they are today – here’s a brief history.
Sweepstakes Today
Today, sweepstakes are more accessible than ever before thanks to the internet. Some require paid participation, which builds toward the prize like a lottery, while you can join others by contributing to social media metrics like follows or shares. Businesses and private enterprises host sweepstakes across all kinds of niches, so there’s a prize for everybody if you find the right competition.
As stated, the internet is instrumental to a lot of modern sweepstakes. That’s because they’re part of a bustling industry filled with other online competitions and gambling games, best seen with iGaming sites that offer slots and other casino activities. Other websites exist to rate and recommend the best casino sites too, tracking signup offers like free spins or deposit bonuses. This site does the same for sweepstakes, enabling users to find sweepstakes near them or offering prizes that they’d be interested in.
More broadly, many business models have also embraced giveaways and other practices that sweepstakes helped mainstream. E-commerce and video streaming are two giant industries that grab the attention of their audiences using free trials, for example. As for sweepstakes, the software used to host these competitions supports an industry that was valued at $128 million in 2023 with a compound annual growth rate of almost 10%. This means it’ll likely double to over $220 million by 2030.
The Origin of Sweepstakes
While sweepstakes can exist in their own legislative position today, they were considered a form of lottery for much of their history. Lotteries were held in ancient China through a game called keno, and the Roman Empire also hosted lotteries during Saturnalia. However, the proceeds were typically used for construction and no cash prizes were on offer.
The first recorded lotteries that offered tickets for money came from the Low Countries in the 1400s. Cities that now lie in Belgium and the Netherlands contain records of lotteries being used again for local construction, but with money on offer. The Netherlands doubled down on lotteries in the 1700s, and their state-run Staatsloterij is still running in 2024.
The word ‘sweepstakes’ also originated from the 1400s, likely from the medieval lotteries that started in the Benelux region. The word meant a lucky person who swept up the stakes in a competition or gambling game. The word was then expanded to refer to lotteries and similar competitions where the pot is split between multiple winners instead.
Following countries like the Netherlands, many other nations started their own lotteries. Sweepstakes followed, like Australia’s 1880 sweepstakes and the more famous 1930 Irish sweepstakes. Established by the Irish Free State, the sweepstakes were created to help fund hospitals. Players were issued tickets that were assigned to horses in an upcoming horse race, entitling them to winnings if the chosen horse won the race. Sweepstakes are still heavily associated with horse racing in the UK and Ireland today. For example, many organizations release free sweepstake kits for the Grand National, so fans can host their own private sweepstakes for fun, to celebrate the biggest horse race of the year.
Like many other industries, sweepstakes found a new life in America. They have been used to market popular magazines like Reader’s Digest, and many other hobbyist/enthusiast magazines, for both items and cash prizes. Even companies like McDonald’s got in on the action, starting their Monopoly sweepstakes in the 80s. As a result, thousands of sweepstakes operations started across America and many of them still persist today.
