Social Sportsbooks

Legality of social sports betting apps in the US

Unlike licensed sportsbooks such as FanDuel, social sportsbooks are legal in every state outside of Washington. Some states, including Idaho, Hawaii, Nevada, and Tennessee, authorize the use of social sportsbooks, but they prohibit bettors from using the premium in-app currency that can be redeemed for real prizes.

Since social sportsbooks are legal, they must comply with federal regulations. However, they do not fall into the category of gambling legislation; instead, they must abide by local sweepstakes regulations. This is how states with no legalized gambling bill can offer products like Fliff or Sportzino. On the flip side, this is also why states like Tennessee offer real-money wagering, but due to their in-state sweepstake regulations, they do not allow social sportsbooks to offer redemptions on premium coins.

The accessibility to social sportsbooks in states that do not offer real-money sports betting has made them increasingly popular, as bettors in states like California are given a chance to turn the in-app currency into real prizes. It is important to note that social sportsbooks do require bettors to be of a legal gambling age, which will vary between 18 to 21, depending on the state.

Social sportsbooks explained in detail - Everything you need to know

If you ever wanted to place bets on sporting events without the risk of losing real money, then social sportsbooks are what you’re looking for. These legal sports betting apps are governed by sweepstake rules from state to state, which allows them to be legal in plenty of states that do not offer real money sports wagering.

Betting on social sportsbooks is done through in-app currency. The first form of currency, which is typically called gold coins, are given to bettors when they sign up and when they log in everyday, and while they cannot be redeemed for real money, they can be used to place bets. On the other hand, sweep coins (names may vary), can also be used, and if a bettor garners enough of them, they will be able to redeem them for real prizes depending on the state.

Now, you may be thinking these apps sound a lot like DFS sites and platforms, but they are very different. Daily Fantasy Sports apps are based on contests and also require real money deposits for a majority of the contests. Social sportsbooks operate just as a licensed sportsbook would, offering point spreads, totals, moneyline, prop bets, and more, just as an app like DraftKings would.

Each social sportsbook operates a bit differently, in terms of what types of promotions they offer, or how much interaction with other bettors they offer. Additionally, much like licensed sportsbooks, we always recommend reading the terms and conditions of everything, especially promos. Many promos, on social sportsbooks will come with requirements like rollover requirements, which will determine when a bettor can redeem coins for money or prizes.

Social sportsbooks vs. real-money wagering

If you want to place a bet on a legal US-based betting app, you would need to deposit real money and make a cash wager. When using a social sportsbooks, all the currency needed to place wagers is two forms of in-app currency. Social sportsbooks not only allows bettors to place bets for free with gold coins, but if they do want to place bets that could lead to money or prizes, they would need to buy packages that include premium coins eligible for redemption.

So, while a sportsbooks may give bonus bets on initial sign-up, a bettor would still need to make a real-money deposit to receive those bets. Meanwhile, social sportsbooks will grant both types of in-app currency upon sign-up, and will even grant free gold coins upon signing into the app moving forward.

One of the other key differences between the two types of products is the ability to interact with friends and other bettors on social sportsbooks. Many social sportsbooks will allow for the creation of groups among friends, or they will have a leaderboard that bettors can climb with the more picks they win, while also allowing bettors to see what wagers other customers are making.

Full comparison breakdown

• Currency

  • Social sportsbook apps: You place your wagers using virtual currency, usually named "Gold Coins" and "Sweeps Coins." The first never holds any actual value and allows only play-for-fun wagering. The latter is used to enter the promotional play and win real money prizes if offered.

  • Real-money sports betting: Wagering happens mostly with actual cash you deposit to your user account via offered payment methods, such as online bank transfers or credit cards. While you can sometimes obtain bonus bets from promotions, no "virtual currency" is used at any time.

• Funding your account

  • Social sportsbook apps: Obtaining Gold Coins or Sweeps Coins happens either via purchasing them from the social sportsbooks' own marketplace, or by claiming them from different promos or bonuses the platform might offer.

  • Real-money sports betting: No-deposit bonus offers are nowadays extremely rare in the fields of real money sports betting, so the only way to get funds to place wagers, is actually depositing your own money to your user account.

• Legality in the US

  • Social betting: Play-for-fun-styled social sports betting is basically allowed in every US state, excluding WA. However, some states prohibit entering promotional play (sweepstakes) or redeeming cash prizes. Thus, such social sportsbooks are very widely available in the US.

  • Real-money wagering: While the legalized online and mobile sports betting market is gaining ground in the US by more and more states allowing such activity, there are still many states and locations that do not permit sports wagering. In such states, social betting is a handy alternative.

• Regulations

  • Social betting: Besides the local and federal sweepstakes rules, the social sports betting market is still widely unregulated in the US and even globally. At least for now, this gives social sportsbooks the chance to offer their services basically US-wide.

  • Real-money sports wagering: Each real-money sportsbook operating in the US must hold a proper license, which each state's own gambling regulator always issues. This means that every legally operating sportsbook is under the watchful eyes of such authority bodies.

• Winnings & prizes

  • Social sports betting: If you wager with non-redeemable gold coins, you win more gold coins, which you can use for placing more social wagers. When betting using sweeps coins, you may be able to redeem and withdraw your winnings, depending on which state you are wagering from.

  • Real-money wagering: When placing bets using real money, all winnings are always withdrawable straight away after the wager is just settled. However, if you wager using bonus bets claimed via promotions, the winnings may include a play-through requirement, which must be fulfilled before withdrawing your winnings is possible.

• Promos and bonuses

  • Social sportsbooks: Social betting platforms usually offer many types of ways for their users to claim free coins, such as social media promos and daily login bonuses. In addition, bundle offers provide more bang for the buck when making coin purchases.

  • Real-money betting sites/apps: Most of the real-money sports betting app promotions focus on odds and profit boosts or occasional bonus bets that can be claimed via making deposits and/or placing qualifying cash wagers. However, entirely free (no-deposit) bonuses are scarce.

• Betting markets

  • Social sportsbook apps: The available betting markets and options on the best social sportsbooks have vastly increased during the last few years, and now all the major US sports and typical bet types are usually presented. Some social betting apps offer even live betting markets, but not all.

  • Real-money betting: The available betting markets, as well as the types of wagers you can place, are usually broader compared to social platforms. However, state regulations may hinder these options, regarding, for example, wagering on college sports.

• Social elements and features

  • Social sportsbooks: High focus on the social experience and community building, with tournaments allowing users to compete against each other, giveaways/promos on social media and free group chats. Nowadays, there are even P2P social betting apps that will enable you to bet directly against your friends and other users.

  • Real-money betting apps: Similar social features and elements can be present in real-money sportsbooks as well, but they are much less common or at least way less emphasized.

Social betting winnings & redeeming prizes

Some bettors may use social sportsbooks for the free play aspect and, in turn, will stick with using just gold coins. However, most bettors will likely be looking to redeem prizes, which means they will need to be using their sweep coins to do so. By using sweep coins to place wagers, the more sweep coins a bettor is able to acquire, the quicker they can redeem them for prizes.

Each social sportsbook operates a bit differently in terms of the playthrough requirements that need to be met before a customer can redeem sweep coins. A traditional rollover requirement would mean that if 25 sweep coins had a 2x rollover requirement, then the bettor would need to wager 50 sweep coins before they are eligible for redemption. Some of the more popular social sportsbooks, like Fliff or Thrillz, will not require a playthrough requirement; instead, they have a minimum withdrawal requirement of 50 sweep coins.

Purchasing coins

Social sportsbooks offer new customers a range of free gold and sweep coins when they create an account. However, if customers want more coins at any point during their use of the product, they will need to purchase them. Most products have a simple marketplace tab on the app, which allows customers to cycle through different coin packages of varying sizes and costs.

Each package will feature just gold coins or a combination of gold coins and sweep coins. It is important to note that sweep coins cannot be purchased individually but within a package along with gold coins. Once a bettor finds a package they would like to purchase, they do so using a range of payment methods, most of which are the same ones used to deposit money into a licensed sportsbook.

1. Enter the marketplace of the social sportsbook.

2. Select the package of coins that you are looking for.

3. Click on that package and choose from the payment methods listed.

4. Once purchased, the coins will immediately appear on the app.

Gold coins vs. sweeps coins

The difference between gold coins and sweep coins is very straightforward. Gold coins are standard in-app currency that cannot be exchanged for real money prizes and are typically granted upon signing into the app.

Sweep coins are premium currency that can be exchanged for real money prizes. While certain apps may not call them “sweep” coins, any form of premium currency on social sportsbooks will operate in a similar manner. Much like gold coins, sweep coins can be purchased in the app, but they will have a wagering requirement before they can be withdrawn for real money. Sweep coins must also always be purchased with gold coins and cannot be bought individually.

Most common payment methods on the US social sportsbooks

Purchasing coin packages on social sportsbooks can be done using the same payment methods used to deposit money on licensed sportsbooks. The most popular methods include debit/credit cards, such as Mastercard, Discover, or Visa, along with e-wallets such as PayPal, Apple Pay, and Skrill. Trustly is also a common option for those looking to use online banking.

Each social sportsbook may vary when it comes to which payment methods they do or don’t offer, but overall, there are options for everyone.

Available social betting markets, sports, and bet types

Bettors using social sportsbooks can find mostly all of the same betting markets and sports that they would on a licensed sportsbook. Whether it be a moneyline bet for college football or a play on the total for an MLB game, these are all markets that are regularly available for social sportsbook users. In general, all of the popular US sports in regards to betting can be found on social sportsbooks, and depending on the product, customers can also find international leagues for different sports.

On popular sportsbooks across the country, bettors will usually have access to over 50 different markets for a given game, and that is no different on social sportsbooks. For example, on Fliff, a bettor could find close to 70 betting markets for an NFL game, including prop bets, time-specific bets, and more.

Social sportsbooks bonuses & promos - Full breakdown

Just as a traditional sportsbook would, social sportsbooks use promotions to draw in new customers or to ensure existing customers keep using the product. Many of these promotions are the same ones you see in the commercials for licensed sportsbooks, except the social sportsbooks are offering free gold and sweep coins for their promos.

A good example of a social sportsbook new customer offer comes from Thrillz, who is offering new users 3,000 free coins & $3 in sweep coins upon sign-up. Depending on the operator, these new customer promotions may only be activated by using a promo code. Other operators may also offer a first-purchase match to new customers, so if the user purchased a package of 500 gold coins and 10 sweep coins, the product would double the number of sweep coins.

Many operators offer daily login bonuses for existing customers. Upon sign-up, the user receives free gold coins, and the more days in a row they sign in, the higher their login bonus is. Other existing customer offers include odds boosts, which are very common on traditional sportsbooks. These simple offers are boosted straight bets that provide a potentially higher payout. For example, on Fliff, a user could find Jalen Brunson to score 20+ points boosted from (+250) to (+500).