NEW YORK (AP) — Publishers Clearing House, a decades-old marketing and sweepstakes company known for doling out large “Prize Patrol” checks, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In an announcement this week, PCH said it was using the bankruptcy process to “finalize a shift away” from its legacy business of direct-mail, retail merchandise and magazine subscriptions. The company is hoping to instead transition to a “pure digital advertising" model, where it will continue to offer free-to-play entertainment and prizes.
The Chapter 11 proceedings, filed in New York on Wednesday, arrive amid growing financial strain for PCH — which has struggled with rising operational costs and changing consumer habits in recent years.
Pivoting from its old way of doing business will help the company break free from past constraints and “establish a strong foundation for our future," CEO Andy Goldberg said in a statement.
But that doesn't mean the famous sweepstakes are going away. PCH says it plans to operate in a "business-as-usual manner" throughout the bankruptcy process — noting that the “Prize Patrol” team will continuing to deliver awards across the U.S. The company says it's lined up debtor-in-possession financing from Prestige Capital to fund operations through its restructuring.
PCH's roots date back to 1953 — when Harold and LuEsther Mertz and their daughter, Joyce Mertz-Gilmore, formed a business out of their Long Island, New York home to send direct-to-consumer mailings that solicited subscribers for a number of magazines through one single offering.
The company later grew with chances for consumers to win money — first launching a direct mail sweepstakes in 1967 — and expanded its offerings to a wide variety of merchandise, from collectible figurines to houseware and “As Seen on TV” accessories, in the years that followed. Its in-person “Prize Patrol” team was formed in 1989.
PCH became known for surprising prize winners with oversized checks, which was often filmed and featured in TV commercials. In Wednesday court documents, the company said it has awarded over half a billion dollars in prizes and continues to attract millions of contestants today.
But its operations haven't been without financial strain — particularly in recent years.
“While PCH’s direct mail and e-commerce programs were profitable for decades, changing patterns of consumer behavior, costs and competition, along with a declining pool of new prospecting names, negatively impacted the business, resulted in losses beginning in 2022,” William H. Henrich, co-chief restructuring officer for PCH, wrote in a court declaration Wednesday.
Henrich pointed to a handful of cost pressures — including rising shipping and postal rates, inventory and supply chain challenges that have continued since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising competition from major retailers today, like Walmart and Amazon, that have dominated the e-commerce space.
PCH also faced some scrutiny from regulators who previously raised concerns about consumers mistakenly believing that making purchases from the company would improve their chances at winning its sweepstakes. As a result, PCH has racked up several costly legal settlements over the years — most recently, Wednesday's court documents note, paying $18.5 million to resolve allegations from the Federal Trade Commission in 2018.
As of the end of March, PCH had total assets of nearly $11.7 million and total liabilities of about $65.7 million, court documents show. The company currently has 105 employees and an annual gross revenue of about $38 million.
FILE - Jo-Ann Snyder reacts when she see's the check from Publishers Clearing House at her home in Wilkes-Barre Twp., Feb. 23, 2018. (Aimee Dilger/The Times Leader via AP)/The Times Leader via AP, file)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump offered some encouraging words and advice for graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday in a speech interspersed with complaints about his critics, accusations that judges were “interfering” with his agenda and attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The Republican’s jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well-received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs.
“You’re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,” the president told the graduates.
But he quickly launched into a campaign-style diatribe, saying that the U.S. was being “ripped off” before he took office and that the last four years, when he was out of power, “were not good for our country.”
“But don’t let that scare you,” he said. “It was an aberration.”
Trump has a long history of injecting such rhetoric into his remarks at venues where traditional political talk was seen as unseemly.
On his first full day in office in 2017, he used a speech at a memorial for fallen CIA agents to complain about journalists and defend the size of his crowd at the inauguration. Later that year, he drew backlash for talking about politics at a Boy Scouts jamboree. And earlier this year, he delivered a grievance-filled speech at the Justice Department where he threatened to “expose” his enemies.
On Thursday night, after talking up his tariff plans, sharing his successes from his first 100 days in office and bashing the media, he returned to words of encouragement.
“Now is the time to work harder than you’ve ever worked before,” he said. “Find your limits and then smash through everything.”
While Trump has described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students had the option of attending the event.
Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host.
Ahead of Trump's arrival, Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at her school “a cherry on top” of her college years.
She called Trump a “very influential person” and said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.”
Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, “I don’t think that we could have had a greater person come to speak."
The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump.
“I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it’s super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,” she said.
At a park a mile away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter-rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the attendees at their event, called a “Tide Against Trump” — a play on the university’s nickname.
Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he was upset by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event.
“I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,” Meyers said.
O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students’ graduation “all about him, true to form.” He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to “win America back.”
“The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump,” O’Rourke said.
Jones told the crowd they were there “not just as a protest, but as a movement.”
“You are here today because you’re concerned, you’re afraid. You understand that this country’s great democracy is teetering right now with what we’re seeing going on,” the former senator said.
Trump’s presence also drew criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color.
After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Associated Press writer Bill Barrow contributed to this report from Atlanta.
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
University of Alabama president Stuart Bell speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump walks with Air Force Col. Angela Ochoa, Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing from Marine One to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., en route Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
