A June 2025 study for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is the best public picture of UK prize competitions. These are its numbers, with the page each comes from.
How big it is
- About 7.4 million adults (14%) took part in the 12 months to November 2023.
- They spent an estimated £1.3 billion a year, with a range of £700 million to £2.1 billion.
- The study found at least 401 operators.
Who dominates
The study says the market appears “highly concentrated”. It estimates one operator, Omaze, accounts for more than 60% of the player base. Other large operators each account for at most 5%.
How much comes back as prizes
In the study’s operator survey, prize values equalled “just under half (47% to 49%)” of the value of entries sold. That is based on operators selling an average of £25,000 of entries with an average prize value of about £12,000. The study says survey respondents are likely larger than the typical operator. It is a prize-value figure, not a measured payout.
What players can see
- 88% of operators offer a free entry route on at least some competitions, and on average fewer than 6% of entries are free.
- In a sample of 30 operator websites plus Omaze, only one marketed the free route the way it marketed paid entry.
- The study says transparency is “particularly lacking” for instant win products.
Source: London Economics for DCMS: Online prize draws and competitions market study (26 June 2025). Figures quoted from the report; we haven’t checked any site’s current terms.
What the sites themselves publish
We checked 389 live competitions on eight of the biggest UK sites against their own prizes and ticket caps: how much UK competition sites pay back.
Work it out for any competition
Use the payback calculator and read what payback means. Check the free route with seven red flags.
How Hoardsy runs its competitions
- Closing dates are never extended for slow sales.
- There’s no minimum number of sales: every end-draw prize and top instant prize is awarded, sold out or not.
- Every competition page shows its prizes and your chance per ticket before you enter.
- Every competition can be entered free by post, with the same chances as a paid ticket. See free postal entry.
Keep reading
- All Hoardsy guides
- What the ASA has ruled on UK competition sites
- Instant win vs end draw
- How a provably fair draw works
Last checked 12 October 2026.
Hoardsy
See the competitions
Choose a draw or an instant game. Every prize and its chance is on the page before you enter.
18+, Great Britain only. Free postal entry on every competition.
