a. With football season around the corner, is it permissible to do ‘pick the pros’ at on-premise accounts where we give away hats/t-shirts/sweatshirts for winners?
Pick the pros is a contest where consumers pick a winning team for each football game that week. The consumer with the most correct picks wins a consumer specialty item. To determine whether this is gambling you must consider two things:
1) Is there a monetary condition to enter the contest?
2) Is it a game of chance? Game of skill is illegal.
Picking the correct winning team is a game of chance. If there is no condition (no entry fee) for entry then the above practices would be allowed. Raffles are okay if the licensee has a local raffle license.
