How McDonald’s, Toyota, and Target Use Sweepstakes to Win Your Loyalty

Last updated: October 10, 2026

If you’ve ever scanned a Monopoly game piece in the McDonald’s app or entered to win a new truck during a football game, you’ve played a brand sweepstakes. These promotions are fun and sometimes life-changing, and they’re also some of the smartest marketing tools big companies have. Here at Win Big Daily, we track giveaways every day. We think the best way to enter them is to know exactly why a brand is offering the prize in the first place.

In this guide, we’ll look at how three household names, McDonald’s, Toyota, and Target, use prizes, games, and rewards to keep you coming back. We’ll also cover the rules that protect you, the data behind the loyalty push, and seven practical tips so you can enjoy the game without getting played by it.

Why Big Companies Love Brand Sweepstakes

A brand sweepstakes is rarely just about giving away a prize. For a big company, a sweepstakes is a way to get you to download an app, join a rewards program, share your email, or visit more often. Giving away a car or a million dollars costs far less than many traditional ad campaigns, and it produces something ads can’t: you actually taking part.

That matters because loyalty programs are now everywhere. According to EY’s Loyalty Market Study 2025, 92% of consumers belong to at least one loyalty program, and almost half belong to more than five. More than half use their programs every week. Many people also say they feel little emotional connection to those programs.

That gap is where sweepstakes come in. Points and discounts can feel routine. A chance to win something big brings back some excitement, and brands know that excitement can turn into habits.

Timing helps too. A LoyaltyLion survey from August 2025, reported by Statista, found that more than 70% of US and UK consumers were more likely to join a loyalty program during economic uncertainty. Among Millennials, the number rose to 81%. When budgets are tight, people look for extra value, and a free shot at a big prize looks like a lot of value.

McDonald’s Monopoly: The Most Famous Brand Sweepstakes in America

No brand sweepstakes is better known than McDonald’s Monopoly. For decades, customers peeled game pieces off drink cups and fry containers, hoping for Boardwalk to complete the set. Then the game disappeared from the US for roughly ten years.

In 2025, McDonald’s brought Monopoly back, running from October 6 to November 2, 2025. Players got pieces by peeling stickers on items like large fries and scanning them into the McDonald’s app, or by placing orders through the app. CNN Business reported that the revival was aimed at boosting sales and growing the company’s loyalty program even further.

Monopoly 2026: What’s Different This Year

Monopoly is back again for 2026. According to CBS News and McDonald’s Corporate, the US game started October 6, 2026 and is scheduled to run through November 1. The big change this year is that the game is played only in the McDonald’s app.

Here’s what’s on the prize board:

• Top prize: $1 million, paid as $50,000 a year for 20 years
• Vehicle prize: A 2027 Jeep Cherokee
• Powersports prize: A choice of one of three Polaris vehicles
• Plus: A long list of smaller food prizes and offers

One important note: some outlets have reported slightly different dates and prizes. Before you play, check the official rules on the McDonald’s corporate website or in the app itself. The official rules always override any news story, including ours.

If you’re in Canada, there’s a separate version. McDonald’s Canada’s Monopoly 2026 is open only to Canadian residents. According to Daily Hive, it started September 29, runs in restaurants until November 2, and continues in the app until November 23.

The Numbers Behind the Golden Arches’ Loyalty Push

Why would McDonald’s move its most famous game entirely into an app? The numbers explain it. On its Q4 2025 earnings call, McDonald’s said its app had 210 million active users over a 90-day period, up from 185 million in Q2 2025, as reported by Restaurant Dive.

CEO Chris Kempczinski said sales to loyalty members in 2025 were almost double the roughly $20 billion recorded in 2023. CFO Ian Borden went further, calling active loyalty members the “single most important digital metric” for the company. McDonald’s has set a goal of 250 million active loyalty users by the end of 2027.

Monopoly plays a big part in that plan. McDonald’s said app users have played Monopoly 500 million times since the app launched in 2020. Each play is a reason to open the app, and each app session is a chance to sell you a meal. That’s what a well-designed brand sweepstakes looks like from the inside.

One honest note: we couldn’t find any published sales results showing exactly how much Monopoly 2025 lifted McDonald’s revenue. The company’s loyalty numbers clearly grew during that time, but the game wasn’t the only factor.

The Free Entry Fine Print

Every legal sweepstakes in the US has to offer a way to enter without buying anything. That’s the famous “No Purchase Necessary” line. How easy that free route is, though, is up to the brand.

For Monopoly 2026, free entry is by mail only, according to Doctor of Credit. There’s no online way to get a free game piece this year. You’ll need to follow the mail-in instructions in the official rules exactly, including the address, deadline, and any limit on how many requests you can send.

This is a good example of how a brand sweepstakes can meet the legal requirement while still steering most players toward buying. A free mail-in option is real, but it takes more effort than tapping “order” in an app. Knowing that helps you decide whether the free route is worth it for you.

Toyota: Big Prizes and Bigger Partnerships

McDonald’s uses a game to drive everyday visits. Toyota takes a different approach. A car purchase happens only every few years, so Toyota uses brand sweepstakes to stay on your mind until you’re ready to shop. Its favorite tool is sports.

The headline promotion right now is Toyota Gameday Giveaways 2026-27, an NFL-themed sweepstakes that runs from August 17, 2026 to February 14, 2027. According to the official rules as listed on Slickdeals, the grand prize is any new 2026 or 2027 Toyota with an MSRP up to $86,135, plus a $30,000 check. It’s open to US residents 18 and older.

That $30,000 check matters more than it might seem. Winning a vehicle usually means paying income tax on its value, and a cash prize can help cover that bill. The previous season’s version, Gameday Giveaways 2025-26, offered a 2026 Toyota Sequoia as its grand prize.

How Toyota Ties Brand Sweepstakes to Sports and Causes

Toyota spreads its brand sweepstakes across a lot of sports partnerships. Recent examples include:

• MLB Toyota Land Cruiser Home Run Sweepstakes: A 2025 Land Cruiser was the prize, and the promotion ended in September 2025 (via SweepsAtlas).
• Timberwolves “Hunt for 50” presented by Toyota: A team-specific NBA promotion (via NBA.com).
• Gameday Giveaways: The long-running NFL-season promotion described above.

The strategy is simple. Sports fans already watch, cheer, and check scores every week. Attaching a sweepstakes to that habit puts the Toyota name in front of them all season long, so the brand is the one they remember when it’s time to buy a car.

Toyota also connects sweepstakes to causes. The Special Olympics Toyota bZ Sweepstakes ran from August 1 to September 30, 2025, with a 2026 Toyota bZ electric vehicle worth more than $50,000 as the prize. No donation or purchase was needed. You can learn more about the partnership at SpecialOlympics.org.

Cause-based promotions build goodwill as well as awareness. People feel good entering, the charity gets attention, and the brand is linked to something positive. For entrants, they’re often some of the most pleasant giveaways to take part in.

Target: Loyalty First, Sweepstakes Second

Target is an interesting case because it isn’t really a sweepstakes brand. While McDonald’s and Toyota lean on big prize drawings, Target puts most of its effort into its Target Circle loyalty program.

The scale is huge. According to Retail Dive, Target said Circle had more than 100 million members in 2024 and added 13 million members that year. Target also said paid Target Circle 360 members spend 8 times more on average than nonmembers. With numbers like that, Target doesn’t need a giant game to get people into its app.

Target has run sweepstakes in the past. The best-documented one is an older holiday promotion that gave $500 plus a Shipt membership to 500 Circle members, as reported by Chain Drug Review. We weren’t able to confirm any official Target sweepstakes in 2025 or 2026, though.

Instead, Target’s recent promotions have looked more like challenges and offers. In October 2025, Circle members could “earn up to $100 in Circle Rewards” by completing certain shopping activities. Slickdeals also reported a deal offering a free Circle 360 membership after spending $199.

The lesson here is that a brand sweepstakes is just one tool in the loyalty toolbox. Target gets similar results through guaranteed rewards instead of chance. For shoppers, that’s arguably a better deal, since you know what you’ll get instead of hoping to win.

The Rules Every Brand Sweepstakes Has to Follow

It helps to know the basic legal framework, because it tells you what a legitimate promotion looks like. According to the Venable Advertising Law Tool Kit (2026 edition), an illegal lottery has three elements: a prize, chance, and “consideration,” which means something you pay to enter. A legal promotion has to remove at least one of them.

Sweepstakes keep the prize and the chance, so they have to remove consideration. That’s why every legitimate brand sweepstakes has a free way to enter, even if it’s a mail-in card like Monopoly’s.

Some states add extra requirements:

• New York and Florida require promoters to register and post a bond when total prizes are worth more than $5,000.
• Rhode Island has a similar rule for retail promotions with prizes worth more than $500.
• Social media entries need to be clearly labeled, for example with #sweepstakes or #contest.

Federal regulators are involved too. The FTC can seek civil penalties of $53,088 per violation, and each deceptive mailing or ad can count as a separate violation. Collecting entrants’ data in a way that contradicts a company’s own privacy policy can also break the law. The FTC’s guide to prize scams is worth reading before you enter anything.

We also didn’t find any new FTC rule specifically about sweepstakes in 2025 or 2026. The existing laws still apply, and they give major brands strong reasons to run their promotions carefully.

Brand Sweepstakes vs. “Sweepstakes Casinos”: Know the Difference

You may have seen headlines about states cracking down on “sweepstakes.” That news is about something very different from a typical brand sweepstakes, and the difference is worth understanding.

The crackdown targets online sweepstakes casinos, which are gambling-style websites that use two types of virtual currency to work around gambling laws. Several states acted against them in 2025:

• California: AB 831, signed by Gov. Newsom in October 2025 and in effect since January 1, 2026, bans casinos that use two currencies.
• New York: S5935 was signed by Gov. Hochul in December 2025.
• Connecticut, Montana, and New Jersey passed similar bans.
• Louisiana: The governor vetoed a similar bill.

According to SBC Americas, iGaming Business, and Legal Sports Report, these laws are aimed at online casino-style sites, not traditional brand promotions. McDonald’s Monopoly, Toyota’s Gameday Giveaways, and similar promotions aren’t affected. You can keep entering legitimate giveaways as usual.

7 Smart Ways to Enter Brand Sweepstakes Without Getting Played

Now that you know how brands think, here’s how to use that knowledge. These are the habits we recommend to the Win Big Daily community:

1. Always read the official rules. News coverage can get dates and prizes wrong. The rules list the real deadlines, eligibility requirements, and odds.
2. Look for the free entry method. Every legitimate brand sweepstakes has one. If it’s mail-in only, follow the instructions exactly, down to the envelope size and postmark date.
3. Don’t buy just to play. If you’d buy that large fries anyway, great. If not, the free route gives you the same legal chance to win.
4. Never pay to claim a prize. Real winners don’t pay “fees” to collect. Requests for gift cards or wire transfers are a classic scam sign.
5. Plan for taxes. Prizes count as income. A car worth $50,000 or more can create a big tax bill, so cash add-ons like Toyota’s $30,000 check are useful.
6. Use a separate email address. Sweepstakes bring marketing messages. A dedicated inbox keeps your personal email clean and makes winner notifications easy to spot.
7. Check the privacy policy. You’re trading your data for a chance to win. Make sure you’re comfortable with how the brand will use it.

One more tip: set calendar reminders for end dates. Monopoly 2026 is scheduled to end November 1 in the US, while Toyota’s Gameday Giveaways run until February 14, 2027. Missing a deadline is an easy way to lose a chance you already earned.

What Brand Sweepstakes Tell Us About the Future of Loyalty

Put these three companies side by side and a pattern appears. McDonald’s uses a brand sweepstakes to drive app downloads and frequent visits. Toyota uses sports and causes to stay top of mind between car purchases. Target skips big drawings and relies on guaranteed rewards through Circle.

All three are after the same thing: your loyalty, measured in app opens, memberships, and repeat purchases. As more people join loyalty programs and fewer feel any emotional connection to them, expect brands to keep using the excitement of a big prize to stand out.

Expect more promotions to move into apps too. Monopoly’s shift to app-only play in 2026 is a strong sign of where things are going. For entrants, that means more convenience, more data sharing, and more reasons to read the fine print.

The Bottom Line

Brand sweepstakes aren’t charity, and they aren’t tricks either. They’re a trade. You get a real chance at a real prize, and the brand gets your attention, your data, and hopefully your repeat business. Once you understand that, you can enter on your own terms.

Play the games you enjoy, use the free entry methods when they make sense, and skip any promotion that asks you to pay to win. Keep checking back with Win Big Daily for the latest legitimate giveaways, deadlines, and tips. Good luck, and we hope that Boardwalk piece finds you this year.

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