Things to Consider Before Entering a Sweepstakes The Reach and Scope of the Sweepstakes – An old but worthwhile adage is to enter those contests and sweepstakes limited to those residing in a specifc geographic area such as a city only, state only or a specific region of the country. Contests and sweepstakes open to entrants of the United States cast a pretty big net when it comes to the number of submissions. If the contest allows entries from countries other than the USA, then the odds get even longer and a given sweepstakes may have a million or several million entries.