Last updated: March 26, 2025
Online sports betting is one of the fastest-growing niches worldwide. We have witnessed its rapid expansion across the United States since the famous 2018 PASPA repeal.
Today, sports betting is legal in more than 30 states in America. However, sweepstakes sports betting is available in most US states except some including Washington and Michigan. With sweepstakes betting, you can compete for real money rewards in the United States.
Many of you are not familiar with this type of sports betting, so we are here to show you how to play at a social sportsbook with a possibility of winning cash prizes by providing a detailed explanation of the entire process.
We bring you a list of the best sweepstakes sportsbooks currently available in the US and provide you with everything to know about this very convenient and popular form of betting.
A sweepstakes sportsbook represents an online platform that allows users to play sportsbook games via a sweepstakes model. At standard sportsbooks, bettors need to deposit their money before being able to place wagers. Sweepstakes sportsbooks are running things a bit differently.
Instead of depositing real money and wagering, players at sweepstakes are purchasing the sportsbooks’ digital products to receive rewards in the form of sweepstakes entries. Then, these can be used to win real cash prizes.
The most important thing is that the digital currency that can be used to redeem cash prizes can’t be obtained directly through a deposit, which is why these sportsbooks.
The sweepstakes sportsbooks concept may appear a bit difficult to understand at first. Here is the entire process summarized step by step:
Much like regular sports betting operators, sweepstakes sportsbooks also offer promotions for both new and existing customers. Before signing up for any sweepstakes site, it is important to be familiar with all available bonuses and terms and conditions associated with them.
This is why we will show you some examples of what types of promotional offers you can expect on sweepstakes sportsbooks.
Sweepstakes sportsbooks’ currencies can have different values but the principle in which they operate and give bonuses is identical.
Players will thus see something like 100% first purchase match up to 100 sweeps cash like they have currently available at Fliff Sweepstakes Sportsbook. This allows players to have fun by playing sportsbook games with gold coins. The key is to check each site’s whole promotional department to get the most from their special offers for new customers.
On top of sign-up bonuses, sweepstakes sportsbooks offer a wide variety of ongoing promotions for existing customers. Since sweepstakes operators are social sportsbooks, it is easy to see why they tend to reward existing customers for referring friends.
For example, at Fliff, customers can earn 100 experience points for every $5 any of their referrals spends on purchasing gold coins.
Moving forward, the players can receive 2 experience points for every challenge completed on the site. If they complete all daily challenges for a specific date, their experience points are multiplied in most cases. Another good way of earning experience points is by simply making picks with your gold coins in the free-play department.
For example, you can get 1 experience point for every 1,000 gold coins played. Collecting experience points can be very beneficial because you can use them to acquire sweeps cash or win other rewards.
Finally, some sweepstakes sports betting operators also offer strong odds boosts for specific games, usually the most interesting events of the day in major professional leagues in the US.
Although the array of their game markets can hardly parallel traditional sports betting sites, sweepstakes sportsbooks do cover most major professional leagues in America. If you are among the players who like to keep things simple, you will find enough action there. The list of the leagues we’ve found at sweepstakes sportsbooks includes:
The presence of esports among the options to play shows the sweepstakes sportsbooks’ desire to keep up with the trends, meaning we can expect more leagues and sports to become available in the near future.
When it comes to the range of markets, it is fairly modest in comparison to the big companies in the US sports betting industry. If you like to have hundreds of markets on the menu for a single NBA or NFL game, you may be better off looking elsewhere. Live betting, team futures, and player props are still not available. Here are some of the games you can play though:
Getting started with sweepstakes sportsbooks is an easy process, usually requiring less than a minute of your time. Players who want to register and play for fun can also do it via their existing Facebook or Google accounts.
The process is somewhat longer for claiming real money prizes because the eligibility for these requires the verification of your account. You can do it by sending proof of identity and address to the operators’ customer support agents.
Browsing through numerous apps on mobile phones has become an inevitable part of our daily routines which is why the availability of quality mobile solutions for the vast majority of sweepstakes sportsbooks comes as no surprise.
Sweepstakes sportsbooks come under the “social gaming apps” category, meaning they are listed on the official stores without any restrictions that are imposed on traditional real money sports betting operators.
We have tested the apps designed by some of the sweepstakes sportsbooks. They give you access to everything available on the websites. We also checked both Google Play and Apple Store reviews for these apps to come across mixed feedback, as shown in the table below:
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Bonus Money | Lack of the Live Betting Option |
App Interface | Frequent App Glitches |
Exciting Alternative To Regular Sportsbooks |
Since sweepstakes sportsbooks do not operate on the basis of traditional deposits, the payment system will be somewhat different from the one you may be used to with standard real-money sports betting sites. Instead of depositing, you can purchase gold coins and then receive sweeps cash as a reward.
Purchasing gold coins is similar to purchasing in-game items on other gaming platforms. You should just visit the sportsbooks’ cashier and you’ll find a list of packages with listed prices. Here is an example:
Once you choose the preferred option, you should simply proceed to finish your order just like you would do to purchase any other goods.
In terms of the payment methods you can use to complete the purchase, most sweepstakes sportsbooks are currently limited to a couple:
While being more complicated than purchasing gold coins, redeeming real money prizes from sweepstakes sportsbooks is still a fairly easy process. Just find the “Redeem” button in your account and follow the steps you see on the screen.
It is important to know that most sites will have the minimum threshold for the redeemed money, set at $50 for the majority of the sweepstakes sportsbooks. Also, these operators will require you to fully complete the verification process (if you haven’t already) before claiming any kind of reward.
To do so, you can send a photo of your valid ID together with your selfie photo so they can confirm your identity. Some sweepstakes sportsbooks will also ask you to send your SSN as an additional verification factor.
Once you have completed the verification process, you can proceed to redeem your sweepstakes prizes via one of the available methods.
Sweepstakes sportsbooks do not accept deposits like standard sports betting operators, but they still handle real money transactions, meaning the highest level of security is required, and they protect the players’ personal and financial data by modern encryption protocols.
The presence of the in-game purchases requires adequate responsible gaming measures, which is why sweepstakes sportsbooks offer various responsible gaming tools to prevent the players from getting carried away with their purchases.
These sites give you an option to impose several types of limits on your account. Players can put a limit on the amount of money they can spend on purchases for any timeframe, be it day, week, or month.
You can also set a limit on the time you spend on your sweepstakes sportsbook account, as well as suspend it for a certain amount of time or close it permanently.
You can use gold coins to make picks for fun, without risking money. You can purchase them, claim them for free at the cashier (every two hours with most sweepstakes sportsbooks), and win them by placing picks and completing challenges. Gold coins, however, can’t be exchanged for real monet.
Sweeps cash is equivalent to a bankroll on a standard sports betting operator. You can’t purchase it. You rather earn it in several ways and get it as a reward. You can use it to claim real money prizes.
The number of purchase methods varies from operator to operator, so it would be best to check all of them and see which one is the best fit for you. The most common ones include credit and debit cards and direct bank payments.