Holiday Lights Contest OFFICIAL RULES
1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR ODDS OF WINNING. SUBJECT TO APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.
2. Eligibility.
Subject to the additional restrictions below, the Holiday Lights Contest (the “Contest”) is open to legal U.S. residents of the states of Virginia and North Carolina who are 18 years or older at the time of entry. Employees and contractors The Virginia Lottery (“Sponsor”), WVEC-TV (“Administrator”), TEGNA Inc, and each of their respective affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, and any persons domiciled with, any such employees or contractors, are not eligible to enter or to win.
3. How to Enter. The Contest will begin at 4:30a.m. (E.T.) on Monday, December 9, 2024 and end at 3:00p.m. on Thursday, December 19, 2024 (the “Entry Period”).
To enter, complete an Official Entry Form by visiting www.13newsnow.com/sweepstakes, clicking on the Holiday Lights Contest link, completing all required information (including your name, your email, address (city, state, zip), age, and daytime telephone number) and following all posted instructions. Your entry must include an original photo of your holiday lights display. All digital entries should be at the highest resolution possible (up to a maximum 10 MB file size) and must be submitted in JPEG format.
Each submission must be an authentic, original photograph taken by the contestant identified on the accompanying entry form, and the contestant must own the copyright in the work submitted and have written permission from all individuals depicted in the work (if any) to grant Sponsor the right to publish and otherwise use the work as described in these Official Rules. The work must not have been digitally generated or otherwise altered in any way other than necessary cropping. Judges may disqualify previously published works or those that have won previous awards or competitions.
Any use of generative AI tools in connection with any Contest entry is prohibited. Sponsor reserves the right to refuse, disqualify or withdraw any entry it determines to be obscene, indecent, offensive, unacceptable or otherwise inappropriate for a general audience, or that is alleged to infringe on any third-party’s intellectual property rights or to have been digitally generated, altered, or manipulated in violation of these Official Rules.
4. Winner Selection.
WVEC-TV will review all eligible entries according to the following criteria: photograph must be original and owned by the contestant. Photo must include a holiday lights display on contestant’s residence. Review will conclude within 5 days after the end of the Entry Period and all qualified entries will [will be designated the “Finalists.” Decisions of judges and Sponsor shall be final and binding in all respects. Review will be completed on or before Friday, December 13.
Final entries will be posted at www.13newsnow.com/sweepstakes (“Contest Page”) and will be open for voting by individuals aged 13 or older from Saturday December 14, 2024 at 12:01AM to Thursday December 19 at 3:00PM (the “Voting Period”). Only one (1) vote per person. The five contestants with the greatest number of recorded eligible votes will be designated the “Winners”. In the event of a tie, the winner will be randomly selected from among the tied entries. Decisions of Sponsor shall be final and binding in all respects.
5. Prizes and Odds. Grand Prize: Five (5) Grand Prize Winners will receive forty (40) $2 Holiday Merry Money x20 Scratchers (ARV: $80).
Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
6. Winner Notification and Acceptance. Winners will be notified on or about December 20, 2024 at the telephone number and/or email address provided on winner’s entry form. Sponsor will call during regular business hours at number provided on entry form and will leave no messages. Failure to reach winner by phone after three (3) attempts, return of email notification as undeliverable, or failure of winner to respond to email notification within forty-eight (48) hours of the date and time on the email may result in disqualification of winner, forfeiture of their interest in all prizes, and selection of a substitute winner from among all remaining eligible entries.
Winners may waive their right to receive prizes. Prizes are nonassignable and nontransferable. No substitutions allowed by winner. Prizes are not redeemable for cash. Prizes and individual components of prize packages are subject to availability and Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal or greater value. Winners are solely responsible for reporting and payment of any taxes on prizes. Winners may be required to complete an affidavit of eligibility/liability and publicity release (except where prohibited by law) which must be returned as directed by Sponsor. Failure to sign and return the affidavit or release, or to comply with any term or condition of these Official Rules, may result in a winner’s disqualification, the forfeiture of his or her interest in the prize, and the award of the prize to a substitute winner. Except where prohibited, acceptance of any prize constitutes winner’s consent to the publication of their name, biographical information and likeness in any media for any commercial or promotional purpose, without limitation the Internet, or further compensation. Prizes not won and claimed by eligible winners in accordance with these Official Rules will not be awarded and will remain the property of Sponsor.
7. Participation. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify persons found tampering with or otherwise abusing any aspect of this Sweepstakes as solely determined by Sponsor. In the event the Sweepstakes is compromised by a virus, non-authorized human intervention, tampering or other causes beyond the reasonable control of Sponsor which corrupts or impairs the administration, security, fairness or proper operation of the Sweepstakes, Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Sweepstakes. Should the Sweepstakes be terminated prior to the stated expiration date, Sponsor reserves the right to award prizes based on the entries received before the termination date. Sponsor will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, postage-due, misdirected or illegible entries or votes, or for failure to receive entries or votes or other electronic communications due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or Sponsor. The authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry will be considered the entrant. An “authorized account holder” shall mean the natural person assigned to such e-mail account by the Internet access provider, online service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the domain associated with such e-mail account. In the event of a dispute, all online entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the owner of the ISP account from which they were sent. For these purposes, an ISP account holder shall mean the natural person assigned to such ISP account by the Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning ISP addresses for the domain associated with such ISP account. Any questions regarding the number of entries or votes submitted, or the owner of an ISP account, shall be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.
8. Construction. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any such provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, these rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein.
9. Sponsor. The Holiday Lights Contest is sponsored by the Virginia Lottery. The decisions of Sponsor regarding the selection of winners and all other aspects of the Sweepstakes shall be final and binding in all respects. Sponsor will not be responsible for typographical, printing or other inadvertent errors in these Official Rules or in other materials relating to the Sweepstakes. For a list of winners (available after February 28, 2025) or a copy of these Official Rules, visit www.13newsnow.com/sweepstakes or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to “Winners List/Official Rules” (as applicable), Holiday Lights Contest WVEC 613 Woodis Ave. Norfolk, VA 23510. If you have any questions regarding this Sweepstakes, please contact Elise Cohen at ecohen@13newsnow.com.
