How we review UK competition operators

Why a methodology page?

Competition Showroom is an independent aggregator and analytics platform for UK prize competitions. Because we publish review pages and a Value Ratio score for every operator we track, we think it's important to be explicit about how we decide who's in the directory, how we calculate our metrics, and how we keep the work honest.

Inclusion criteria

An operator is added to the Competition Showroom directory only when all of the following are true:

• They are a UK-based or UK-targeting prize competition operator.
• They publish their live competitions on a public website with sufficient detail (ticket counts, ticket price, prize value or cash alternative) for us to calculate the Value Ratio.
• They appear to operate within UK prize competition law — i.e. they offer either a genuine skill question or a free postal entry route to distinguish their draws from lotteries (Gambling Act 2005).
• We can reliably and repeatedly fetch their live competition data without breaching their terms or rate limits.

Operators are removed from the directory if they cease trading, repeatedly fail to complete advertised draws, or are credibly reported for non-payment of prizes.

How we calculate the Value Ratio

The Value Ratio is the headline metric we publish for every tracked competition. The formula is:

Value Ratio = (Total Tickets × Ticket Price) / Quoted Cash Prize

A Value Ratio of 1.0 means the operator is offering the prize at the break-even point; below 1.0 is a discount; above 1.0 is the operator's gross margin. The full explanation, including worked examples and edge cases, is on our Value Ratio reference page.

Where an operator does not publish a clear cash alternative, or where a competition is a percentage-only or instant-win format that the metric doesn't apply to, we display no Value Ratio rather than estimating one.

Data integrity

• Source of truth. Ticket counts, prices, and prize values are scraped directly from operator pages. We do not accept operator-supplied feeds.
• Refresh cadence. Live data refreshes continuously throughout the day. If a draw closes or sells out, we reflect that on the next crawl.
• Errors and corrections. If we display incorrect data for a competition or operator, please email support@competitionshowroom.com and we will investigate and correct.

Independence and conflicts of interest

• Inclusion in the directory is never paid. Operators cannot purchase listings, better placement, or higher review scores.
• We do not currently take affiliate commissions from operators. If that ever changes, we will disclose it on this page and on every page where it applies.
• Editorial review content (operator pages, blog posts) is written by Competition Showroom staff and is not reviewed or approved by operators before publication.
• Outbound links to operators use a rel="sponsored" attribute on the primary "Visit Operator" call-to-action so that search engines and AI crawlers can clearly identify them as commercial outbound links, even when no commercial relationship exists.

What we are not

• We are not a competition operator. We do not host draws, sell tickets, or hold prize funds.
• We are not a regulator. We monitor public data and apply consistent inclusion rules, but we cannot guarantee the conduct of any third-party operator.
• We are not financial advice. The Value Ratio is a mathematical comparison metric, not a recommendation to enter any specific competition.

How to report an issue

Spotted incorrect data, a missing free-entry route, an operator we should review, or an operator we should remove? Email support@competitionshowroom.com with as much detail as possible and we'll investigate.

Last reviewed: April 2026. We review this methodology at least once a year.