Is providing a prize for an online sports pick em' game gambling under law.

Your question is more difficult than you realize since, if you were to simply just create a website, you are potentially dealing with (1) federal law, (2) regulatory law, (3) the law of all 50 states.

Regarding your question as to how radio programs and TV programs do similar practices with similar contests, they generally do their due diligence in advance to ensure they are acting within the confines of the law. Even then, these companies are not immune to lawsuit-- a game show on TV was recently sued for violations of gambling laws. (In this situation, the game show allowed viewers to submit via text message a number to the game show, and if the number was later revealed to be accurate, the viewer could potentially win a large sum of money.) This case was actually appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, which recently decided that the activity did not constitute gambling in violation of Georgia law.

I give you this example because your question can be quite tricky, even for experienced attorneys, so you should not simply rely on a yes/no answer from an internet forum.

If you are serious about establishing your venture and want to seek counsel, I would encourage you to contact my colleague Tom Plank at tplank@heidariplank.com or 404-680-9866, who is quite skillful at navigating gambling laws.

DISCLAIMER: Although I am an attorney, absent a signed retention and engagement letter, I am not your attorney. There are no exceptions to this rule. Moreover, you shall not rely on the information I am providing you, as it is only for your general knowledge and educational purposes. Consider it a good first step in your knowledge acquisition, but not legal advice. Indeed, my analysis is based on the extremely limited facts you have given me, and new facts could substantially alter any answer I give.