Texas — Sweepstakes & Promotion Law
Overseeing agency: Texas Attorney General
No-purchase-necessary & AMOE
Like every U.S. state, Texas follows the federal rule: a chance-based promotion must let anyone enter for free. If you let people enter by buying a product, you must also offer an Alternate Method of Entry (AMOE) with equal dignity — same odds, same deadlines, same number of entries as the paid path. Burying the free method in fine print draws regulatory attention.
Skill vs. chance
A contest decided on genuine skill or merit (photo, essay, recipe, etc.) removes the "chance" element and is generally lawful without a free-entry requirement in most states. The judging criteria must be objective and applied consistently — if a "contest" is actually decided by random draw, it becomes a sweepstakes and the no-purchase rule applies.
Notable state quirks
- A sponsor may not automatically enter a consumer into a promotion upon purchase without a clear, free alternate method of entry.
Printable Texas compliance checklist
Before you launch a prize promotion in Texas, work through this quick checklist. For a formatted, state-specific file, open the Checklist Generator. Press Ctrl/Cmd + P to print this section.
- No purchase is required to enter — a free Alternate Method of Entry (AMOE) is offered with equal dignity (same odds, deadlines, and number of entries).
- Official rules state the prize, value, eligibility, start/end dates, and how winners are selected.
- If winners are drawn at random, the promotion is a sweepstakes — not a skill contest.
- Texas follows the federal baseline — no separate bonding or registration statute applies.
- Not sure whether your specific promotion must be filed? Run the Do-I-Need-to-File? checker.
Build a Texas compliance checklist
Turn these rules into a printable checklist for your promotion.
Open tool →Do I need to file? (go-no-go)
Answer a few questions to see whether your promotion triggers state registration.
Open checker →Back to the laws hub
Federal baseline and the special-vs-baseline split.
Open laws hub →Source & verification
- Primary: Texas Attorney General — Consumer Protection
- Agency: Texas Attorney General
- Retrieved and verified: 2026-08-16. Laws change — confirm with the agency before launch.