Florida Sweepstakes Law: Registration, Bonding, and Winner Reporting

Florida sweepstakes law is set out in Section 849.094 of the Florida Statutes, which governs any “game promotion” run in connection with the sale of consumer products or services. The core rules are straightforward: entry must be free, the promotion cannot be rigged or misleading, and if total prize value exceeds $5,000 the operator must register with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), post a bond or trust equal to the prize value, and file a winner report after the promotion ends.

What Makes a Sweepstakes Legal

An illegal lottery has three ingredients: a prize, a winner picked by chance, and consideration (something of value paid to enter). A sweepstakes already has prize and chance, so the only way to stay on the right side of the law is to remove consideration. That is the reason every legitimate promotion carries “No Purchase Necessary” language.

Section 849.094 bars an operator from requiring an entry fee, payment, or proof of purchase as a condition of entering a game promotion.¹ Every promotion needs a genuinely free method of entry that gives participants a real chance to win. If paying customers quietly get better odds or extra entries, the free path is a sham and the purchase becomes the effective price of entry, which turns the promotion into an unlawful lottery.

When You Must Register With FDACS

The $5,000 threshold is the trigger. If the total announced value of all prizes exceeds $5,000, the operator has to register the promotion with FDACS at least seven days before it launches. The filing includes a copy of the official rules, a list of every prize and prize category, and a $100 nonrefundable filing fee.¹ Once filed, the rules are locked in. They cannot be changed while the promotion is running.

The Bond or Trust Requirement

The same $5,000 threshold triggers a financial guarantee. The operator must either open a trust account at a state- or federally chartered financial institution with a balance equal to the total prize value, or post a surety bond in the same amount and file it with FDACS at least seven days before launch.¹ The point is participant protection. If the operator folds or refuses to pay, money is already set aside to cover the advertised prizes.

Five-Year Exemption for Established Operators

Operators with a clean history can skip the bond or trust. FDACS may waive the requirement for any operator that has run game promotions in Florida for at least five consecutive years without a civil, criminal, or administrative action for violating Section 849.094.¹ The waiver disappears immediately if the operator later commits a violation.

Promotions at or Below $5,000

If total prize value is $5,000 or less, there is no registration, no filing fee, and no bond. The other rules still apply. Free entry, honest advertising, prohibited practices, and rules disclosures all bind operators regardless of prize size.

Posting Rules and Advertising Disclosures

The full rules have to be available in two places: conspicuously posted at every retail location or place where the public can enter, and included in all advertising for the promotion.¹

The statute does not itemize the specific fields a rules document must contain, but standard practice and FDACS expectations call for the sponsor’s name and address, a description of the prizes with approximate retail values, the odds of winning or how odds will be calculated, start and end dates, eligibility restrictions, the geographic area covered, and all methods of entry including the free alternative.² Vague or incomplete rules invite enforcement trouble, because they make it easy to argue the promotion is misleading.

Shortened Ads Are Allowed

Advertising copy does not need to reproduce the full rules. It has to include the material terms and give the audience a way to reach the rest: a website, toll-free number, or mailing address where the complete rules stay available throughout the promotion.¹ Radio and television spots can simply direct listeners or viewers to a retail location or the operator’s contact information. Printed disclosures have to be legible.

Winner Reporting After the Promotion Ends

For any promotion with more than $5,000 in total prizes, the operator has 60 days from the date winners are finally determined to file a certified winner list with FDACS. The list must include the name and address of every winner who received a prize worth more than $25, along with the prize value and the date it was won.¹ This applies to winners from any state, not just Florida residents.

The operator also has to provide the winner list, free of charge, to anyone who asks for it. As an alternative to filing directly with FDACS, the operator can publish the same winner information in a Florida newspaper of general circulation within the 60-day window and then send FDACS a certified copy of the published notice.

Prohibited Practices

Even a registered, bonded promotion can violate the statute through the way it is run. Section 849.094 flatly prohibits:

Rigging outcomes so certain franchises, regions, or time periods receive winning entries.
Disqualifying entries without a legitimate, rule-based reason.
Failing to award prizes the promotion promised.
False or misleading advertising or promotional literature.
Requiring an entry fee, payment, or proof of purchase to participate.

The last item also catches the notify-then-charge scam pattern, where someone is told they have won and then asked for a processing or shipping fee before the prize is released. Demanding money from a supposed winner would almost certainly qualify as deceptive advertising under the same statute and could trigger enforcement under Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.¹

Penalties for Violations

Florida stacks multiple enforcement tools on top of each other, and a single promotion can be hit through more than one at the same time.

Criminal. Violating Section 849.094 is a second-degree misdemeanor under Sections 775.082 and 775.083, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.¹
Civil penalty. Each violation can carry a fine up to $1,000, recoverable in a civil action brought by FDACS or the Department of Legal Affairs. Because each violation counts separately, a promotion with several defects can generate substantial aggregate fines.
Injunction. FDACS or the Department of Legal Affairs can go to circuit court and get an order shutting down a non-compliant promotion statewide.
FDUTPA action. Any violation of Section 849.094, or soliciting someone else to commit one, automatically qualifies as a deceptive and unfair trade practice under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, opening the door to additional remedies including consumer restitution.

Nonprofit Drawings Fall Under a Different Statute

Charitable and nonprofit organizations running drawings by chance are governed by Section 849.0935, not the commercial game-promotion statute. The rules overlap in some ways and differ in important ones. A nonprofit still cannot require an entry fee, donation, or proof of purchase, but it may suggest a minimum donation on printed materials. “We suggest a $25 donation” is fine; “Entry requires a $25 donation” is not.³ Nonprofit drawings also carry unique restrictions: a charity cannot cancel a drawing once announced, cannot condition it on receiving a minimum number of tickets or donations, and cannot discriminate between entrants who donated and those who did not. If you are running a charitable raffle, work from Section 849.0935 rather than 849.094.

Federal Tax Consequences for Prize Winners

Winning creates a federal tax bill. Under 26 U.S.C. § 74, prizes and awards count as gross income and must be reported on the winner’s tax return.⁴ That applies whether the prize is cash, a car, a vacation, or anything else of value. Non-cash prizes are taxed at fair market value, so a winner who receives a $30,000 vehicle owes income tax on $30,000 even though no money changed hands.

On the sponsor side, anyone who pays $600 or more in prizes or awards during a calendar year must file a Form 1099-MISC reporting the payment.⁵ Winners should expect the form and should plan for the tax hit before accepting a high-value prize. Failing to report prize income, even if the sponsor never issues the 1099, can result in IRS penalties and interest.

Online and Social Media Promotions

Sweepstakes that run online or through social media pick up federal obligations on top of Florida law.

Children Under 13

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) applies whenever a promotion collects personal information from children under 13. If the entry form collects only a child’s email address for the sole purpose of notifying winners, the sponsor can rely on COPPA’s one-time contact exception, but the contact information has to be deleted once the contest ends. Contacting a child more than once requires direct notice to the parent and an opportunity to opt out. Collecting anything beyond basic online contact information, such as a home address for shipping a prize, requires verifiable parental consent before the data is gathered.⁶

FTC Disclosures on Social Posts

When a sweepstakes asks entrants to post on social media, share a photo, tag friends, or use a branded hashtag, the FTC treats the post as an endorsement, because the poster received something of value (an entry) in exchange. FTC endorsement guidelines require a clear disclosure that anyone seeing the post can understand. A hashtag like “#sweeps” or even “#sweepstakes” on its own generally is not enough, because many viewers will not know what it means. Pairing the brand name with the word “sweepstakes” in a single hashtag makes the commercial relationship obvious. Operators also need to comply with each platform’s own promotion policies, which often add rules about tagging, disclaimers, and how winners are announced.

1
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 849.094 – Game Promotion in Connection with Sale of Consumer Products or Services
2
Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Game Promotions/Sweepstakes
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 849.0935 – Charitable Nonprofit Organizations Drawings by Chance
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 74 – Prizes and Awards
5
IRS. About Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Information
6
Federal Trade Commission. Complying with COPPA: Frequently Asked Questions