Things to Consider Before Entering Sweepstakes The Duration of Sweepstakes or Contest – Some contests have a submission duration of only hours and while the prizes associated with this limited duration contest are usually lower in value, assuming single or limited entries per household, your odds of winning are quite good compared to longer running contests. A number of sweepstakes run for a 24 hour period and entry submission times will depend on contest rules and the indicated time zone. Weekly and monthly contests are more common and again, when compared to multiple month durations, are superior when it comes to the odds of winning a given prize.