Last updated: January 9, 2024
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 legal in all US states except Washington and Michigan. With sweepstakes betting, you can place wagers and compete for real money rewards completely legally 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 legally place sports wagers with a possibility of winning cash prizes in all but two of US states 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 place sports wagers 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 betting money can’t be obtained directly through a deposit, which is why these sportsbooks are not governed by gambling laws and can operate almost everywhere.
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. The majority offer matched purchase promotions for both coins and cash.
Players will thus see something like 100% first purchase match up to 600,000 sweeps coins and up to 100 sweeps cash like they have currently available at Fliff Sweepstakes Sportsbook.
This gives bettors double wagering power, whether they want to have fun by placing bets with sweeps coins or increase their real-money balance by wagering with sweeps cash. 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 refer to themselves as 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 sweeps 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 sweeps coins in the free-play department.
For example, you can get 1 experience point for every $1,000 sweeps coins wagered. 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.
Here is an example of a boost for the NFL game between Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans:
Bet | Standard Odds | Boosted Odds |
---|---|---|
Devin Singletary 90+ Rush Yards & 1+ TDs | +300 | +370 |
Dak Prescott 3+ Pass TDs | +150 | +200 |
CeeDee Lamb 100+ Receiving Yards, 1+ TDs & Cowboys Win | +230 | +300 |
Any Quarter To End Scoreless | +280 | +340 |
Yes, sweepstakes sportsbooks are completely legal in all US states except for Washington and Michigan. It is safe to register a new account and place wagers with all social betting operators listed on this page.
What allows sweepstakes operators to conduct their business legally even in states that still forbid online sports wagering is the fact that you can’t just deposit money and place bets like you would at state-regulated or illegal offshore sportsbooks.
The key element worth highlighting is that you do not need to invest money to participate in sweepstakes and place bets. Instead, you can earn your sweeps cash in numerous ways, be it by completing daily challenges, verifying your account, referring a friend, placing free-to-play bets, etc.
Players have the option to claim sweeps cash as a reward for completing a purchase of sweeps coins but they can never purchase sweeps cash directly. Unlike sweeps coins, sweeps cash has monetary value and you can use it to place real money wagers as well as withdraw it.
To cut a long story short, sweepstakes sports betting sites are primarily social sportsbooks that offer real money prizes without breaking any US laws.
Although the array of their betting markets can hardly parallel traditional sports betting sites, sweepstakes sportsbooks do cover all major professional leagues in America. If you are among the bettors who like to keep things simple, you will find enough action there. The list of the leagues we’ve found at sweepstakes casinos includes:
The presence of esports among the options to bet on 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 is what you can bet on, 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 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 |
A Legal Way To Place Sports Bets | Lack of Early Cashout Features |
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 sweeps coins and then receive sweeps cash as a reward.
Purchasing 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:
Always make sure to check the deposit and withdrawal options with every sweepstakes sportsbook before making important decisions.
While being more complicated than purchasing sweeps 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 withdrawal methods.
Sweepstakes sportsbooks do not accept traditional deposits like standard sports betting operators, but they still handle real money transactions, meaning the highest level of security is required.
These sites are fully legal, they do everything by the book, 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 time frame, 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.
Yes, sweepstakes sportsbooks are fully legal in all US states bar Washington. Instead of traditional real money gambling, they operate on a sweepstakes model which allows them to offer their services even in states in which sports betting is still banned.
Yes, you can win real money prizes on sweepstakes sportsbooks in the US. You do so by redeeming sweeps cash and then collecting the prize in your Skrill or bank account.
You can use sweeps coins to make picks for fun, without risking money. You can purchase them, claim them at the cashier (every two hours with most sweepstakes sportsbooks), and win them by placing picks and completing challenges. Sweeps 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 place real money picks and 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.