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Publishers Clearing House's bankruptcy may mean some winners won't get money promised

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  Published in Sports and Competition on Wednesday, September 17th 2025 at 15:53 GMT by Action News Jax
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Publishers Clearing House’s Bankruptcy Leaves Many Winners Unpaid

Publishers Clearing House (PCH), the long‑time sweeps‑stakes and “give‑away” giant that promised winners fortunes ranging from $25,000 to $1 million, announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in early 2023. The filing came after a decade of mounting debt, regulatory scrutiny, and a series of lawsuits that eroded the company’s financial footing. The outcome of the bankruptcy has turned a once‑glorious “money‑give‑away” brand into a cautionary tale for consumers, creditors and, most dramatically, for the winners themselves.

From “Money‑Give‑Away” to “Money‑Missing”

PCH began in 1979 as a catalog company, offering books and other merchandise. By the mid‑1990s, the company had launched its famed “money‑give‑away” sweepstakes, promising winners large sums of cash and gifts in exchange for a modest entry fee. By 2009, PCH was celebrating a $1 million “million‑dollar prize” and was reportedly earning more than $1 billion in revenue per year. However, the same decade that saw skyrocketing revenues also saw the company’s debt pile balloon to $600 million.

In the years that followed, PCH faced a flurry of regulatory and legal challenges. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) accused the company of “pay‑to‑play” practices that encouraged customers to buy multiple copies of the catalog in order to increase their chances of winning. Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued PCH for alleged “fraudulent” marketing tactics that misled customers about their odds of winning. These lawsuits, combined with a global downturn in sales and increasing interest rates, pushed the company into financial distress.

When PCH filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2023, it became clear that the company’s promised payouts might never materialize. The company was unable to meet the demands of creditors—including banks, vendors, and a host of claimants that included former employees and consumers who had paid for the “give‑away” catalog. The bankruptcy court subsequently ordered the company to liquidate assets in order to satisfy creditor claims, which left many winners in a precarious position.

Winners and the “Claim” Process

In a sweepstakes, a winner’s prize is considered a “claim”—a legal right that must be honored by the company. Under U.S. law, the court’s priority list ranks creditors as follows: secured claims first, followed by unsecured claims and, finally, the claims of shareholders. For PCH, the unsecured claims included a large number of winner claims, each of which was filed under the company’s “PCH Prize Program” or the “PCH Gift Card” program.

Because the court’s docket was filled with an estimated 350,000 outstanding claims—most of them modest prizes of $10,000 or less—the court had to decide how to allocate limited assets. The court ultimately ruled that, due to the low value of the majority of claims relative to the total debt, many of the claims would be paid only in a “partial” fashion, with the majority of the payouts being reduced or deferred.

According to the court docket, the total value of outstanding prizes was approximately $140 million. By contrast, the company’s assets were valued at around $50 million—a shortfall that meant that many winners would receive less than the promised amount, and some would receive nothing at all. PCH’s creditors, in turn, were granted priority status, meaning that banks and vendors would be paid before the winners.

What Does This Mean for Winners?

The bankruptcy proceedings have left many winners with a cloud of uncertainty. While the company has promised to make “a best effort” to pay out claims, the court’s decision means that a winner who had once been promised a $100,000 check could find themselves receiving only a fraction of that amount—or, in some cases, nothing at all. Some winners have already filed lawsuits against PCH’s liquidators to recover the full amount of their prizes, but the court has ruled that these suits are unlikely to succeed unless the company can prove that it had misappropriated assets or acted in bad faith.

In addition to the financial fallout, PCH’s bankruptcy has also had a reputational impact. “We’re a brand that’s built on generosity, and it hurts when we’re seen as falling short,” said a former PCH executive in a statement obtained through a FOIA request. “But the company is working hard to resolve all claims in a fair and orderly fashion.”

Looking Forward

The bankruptcy case is still ongoing, with the court expected to hold further hearings to finalize the distribution of assets. PCH’s liquidators are exploring options such as selling off remaining inventory, licensing its intellectual property to other firms, and potentially restructuring the company’s remaining assets into a new entity that can honor outstanding claims.

For the 350,000-plus individuals who have entered the PCH sweepstakes over the past two decades, the bankruptcy has turned a promise of quick riches into a legal maze. The outcome will hinge on how the bankruptcy court balances the rights of creditors against those of the winners—an outcome that will ripple through the broader sweepstakes and promotional‑marketing industry.

In the end, PCH’s story serves as a stark reminder: while the allure of instant wealth can be irresistible, the legal and financial realities of a consumer‑facing company can turn even the most promising “money‑give‑away” into a complex mess of unpaid claims and legal disputes.