Social Sportsbooks: How US Sweepstakes Sports Apps Work

A social sportsbook is a free-to-play sports app that uses two virtual currencies: coins you can purchase for fun, and sweepstakes coins that can be redeemed for cash prizes. Because no purchase is necessary to get sweepstakes coins, operators run under US sweepstakes law rather than sports-betting licences. As of October 2026, several states have banned the model and the best-known brands are moving to prediction markets.

This page explains how the coins, free entry and redemption work, what each major operator’s own rules say, which states are excluded and why the sector is changing fast. It is informational. We list no offers, hold no codes and receive nothing from the operators named. The apps serve US residents only; readers elsewhere should skip to the last section.

What is a social sportsbook?

A social sportsbook looks like a betting app: there are spreads, moneylines, totals and parlays on the NFL, NBA, college sports and more. The difference is the currency. Play coins (Gold Coins, Fliff Coins, Thrillzz Coins and similar) have no cash value and are for entertainment. Sweepstakes coins, given away free or as a bonus with a coin purchase, can be redeemed for prizes once played through.

The operator is not licensed by a state gaming regulator. It relies on the legal idea that a sweepstakes is lawful when entry is free: if anyone can obtain sweepstakes coins without paying, the “consideration” element of illegal gambling is missing. That theory is exactly what state legislatures attacked in 2025 and 2026, and it is why availability shrinks every few months.

Compared with a state-licensed sportsbook, the menu is narrower, the prices are set by the operator with a margin built in, and there is no gaming regulator to complain to. Our explainer on moneylines, spreads, totals and parlays covers the pick types, which work the same way on social apps.

How does the two-coin model work?

Every social sportsbook runs two balances side by side. One holds play coins that you purchase in packages and can never cash out. The other holds sweepstakes coins, which you receive free, mainly as a bonus attached to a coin package, and which turn into redeemable prizes after you play them through. The operator’s revenue comes from coin package sales.

The names differ by brand, but the structure does not. Sportzino uses Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. Fliff pairs Fliff Coins with Fliff Cash. Thrillzz runs three currencies: Thrillzz Coins for social contests, Thrillzz Sweeps for sweepstakes play and Prize Tickets, which are what a winning sweepstakes pick pays out in. Rebet uses Rebet Coins and Rebet Cash, and Onyx Odds runs its own pair of play and prize coins.

Thrillzz’s terms give a clean example of how a winning sweepstakes pick pays. A Sweeps Pick of 2 Thrillzz Sweeps at +150 (2.5 in decimal) returns 3 Prize Tickets, calculated as 2 x (2.5 – 1). The same pick with 100 Thrillzz Coins in social mode returns 150 Thrillzz Coins. American and decimal prices convert exactly as at a sportsbook; see our guide to reading odds and implied probability.

Is a purchase ever necessary?

No, and the free route is what keeps the model inside sweepstakes law. Every operator must offer an alternative method of entry (AMOE), usually a handwritten request sent by post, daily log-in rewards or social-media giveaways. The free coins carry the same redemption rights as coins received with a purchase, although the amounts are small.

The operators’ own rules describe the mail-in route in detail:

• Sportzino: generate a unique Mail Code in your account and post a handwritten request quoting it; each valid request gives 5 Sweeps Coins, and a new code can be requested after a waiting period shown in the app.
• Fliff: send a stamped #10 envelope with one handwritten 3 x 5 inch request card to Fliff’s sweepstakes department in Manchester, New Hampshire, with your name, account email, username, user ID and address. Fliff also adds 1.00 Fliff Cash when you claim a free Fliff Coin award with a zero Fliff Cash balance.
• Thrillzz: Thrillzz Sweeps and Sweeps Picks can be obtained free through an alternative method of entry, challenges and promotions, or incidentally with a Thrillzz Coins purchase.
• Rebet: its official rules state that no purchase or payment of any kind is necessary to enter or win.

Read the instructions to the letter. Requests with missing details, typed rather than handwritten text or the wrong envelope wording are void under these rules, and some operators cap how often you can send one.

Which social sportsbooks operate, and what do their rules say?

We read each operator’s sweepstakes rules or terms on 25 October 2026. The table records the operating company, the minimum age, how many US states the rules exclude and the smallest redemption allowed. Excluded-state lists change often, so treat the operator’s live page as final before you register.

Excluded states, operator by operator

These are the lists in each operator’s own rules as read on 25 October 2026. “Excluded” means you cannot play with or redeem sweepstakes coins while located there; some apps still allow free social play.

• Sportzino (16): California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana (from 24 July 2026), Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Washington.
• Fliff (20): Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia.
• Thrillzz (20): Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Washington.
• Rebet (12): Arizona, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee.

Ten states appear on all four lists: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee. If you live in one of them, no major social sportsbook will let you redeem prizes. Oklahoma is not yet on any of these lists, but its ban takes effect on 1 November 2026, so expect updates.

How do redemptions work?

A redemption converts eligible sweepstakes coins into a cash prize, usually at one coin to one dollar. Three conditions apply almost everywhere: the coins must have been played through, your balance must reach the operator’s minimum, and you must pass identity checks. The operator decides whether to approve each request under its rules.

Specifics from the rules we read:

• Playthrough: Sportzino defines a playthrough requirement as a multiplier attached to specific Sweeps Coins that must be played before they can be redeemed. Fliff and Rebet only allow redemption of coins won through play, not coins simply collected.
• Minimums: Sportzino 50 Sweeps Coins per request; Fliff 50 eligible Fliff Cash, which “currently corresponds to a $50 prize”.
• Maximums: Fliff caps prizes at $5,000 per sweepstakes period, which runs for a calendar month; larger requests roll into the next period.
• Payment route: Sportzino pays rewards in the same denomination used to purchase Gold Coins.
• Verification: all four can ask for government ID, proof of address and payment details, and they void prizes where account details do not match.
• Forfeiture: balances can be forfeited when an account closes; Thrillzz’s terms also warn that currencies are forfeited for inactivity.

Plan for the first redemption to take longest, because that is when identity checks run. Use the same name and address on your account as on your bank account, and do not use a VPN: Sportzino’s terms list VPN use as a reason to close an account.

Five things to check in the rules before a purchase

1. The excluded-state list, and whether it covers where you are physically located, not only where you live.
2. The minimum and maximum redemption, and the period the maximum applies to.
3. The playthrough multiplier on bonus sweepstakes coins, and whether coins collected free must be played before redemption.
4. The documents needed for verification, so you can supply them before your first request rather than after.
5. The inactivity and account-closure clauses, which decide when an unused balance is lost.

Each of these sits in the sweepstakes rules or terms that every operator in our table publishes, usually linked from the app’s footer or settings menu.

What does playthrough really cost? A worked example

Social sportsbooks build a margin into their prices just as bookmakers do, so every sweepstakes coin you play through loses a little in expectation. Knowing that cost tells you how much of a free coin bonus you are likely to keep by the time it becomes redeemable. The example below uses illustrative prices, not any app’s live lines.

Assume a standard two-way market priced at -110 on both sides. Each side implies 110 / 210 = 52.38%, so the pair adds up to 104.76%, and the house edge on a single pick is about 4.5%. Suppose you hold 30 sweepstakes coins from a free bonus with a 1x playthrough requirement and play them as three straight picks of 10 coins at -110.

• A winning 10-coin pick at -110 returns 10 + (10 x 100 / 110) = 19.09 coins.
• With a fair 50% chance per pick (the market’s view once the margin is stripped out), each pick returns 0.5 x 19.09 = 9.55 coins on average.
• Expected balance after playthrough: 3 x 9.55 = 28.64 coins, an expected cost of about 1.36 coins (4.5%).
• To redeem at a 50-coin minimum you still need about 21 more coins, which in practice means more picks, more playthrough and more margin.

Parlays raise the cost quickly. A three-leg parlay at -110 per leg pays about 6.96 times the stake, but the fair chance of all three winning is 12.5%, so the expected return is 0.125 x 6.96 = 0.87, an edge of roughly 13%. The table shows the expected cost of playing through 100 sweepstakes coins with different pick types at the same -110 pricing.

The lesson is the same as at any sportsbook. Straight picks at the shortest margin keep the most of a free balance, and prizes only become realistic for players who receive bonus coins regularly. Treat coin packages as the price of entertainment, not as a deposit you expect to get back.

Which states have banned sweepstakes sportsbooks?

States have been closing the model by statute since 2025, usually with laws aimed at dual-currency sweepstakes games in general, which catch sports apps as well as social casinos. Recent bans with their effective dates include California (1 January 2026), New York (5 December 2025), Indiana (1 July 2026), Maine (29 July 2026), Louisiana (1 August 2026) and Oklahoma (1 November 2026).

Other states rely on older law or enforcement letters rather than new statutes, which is why Nevada, Washington, Idaho and Michigan have long been excluded. The direction is one-way: no state has legalised dual-currency sweepstakes, and legislators in several more states introduced bans in 2026. For the separate, fully licensed market, see our state-by-state guide to where sports betting is legal in the US.

Why are social sportsbooks turning into prediction markets?

Because state sweepstakes bans keep spreading and federal derivatives law offers a different legal route, although it is no way around state law for sports: the 9th and 6th Circuits ruled in August and September 2026 that states may apply gambling law to sports contracts. A prediction market trades event contracts on an exchange registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, in dollars, without a coin model. Several social sportsbook brands have already moved or applied to move.

• Novig retired Novig Cash and Novig Coins on 4 August 2026 and now trades in dollars on its own exchange, Ludlow Exchange, designated by the CFTC on 16 June 2026. Our Novig guide covers how it works now.
• Fliff: Fliff FCM LLC filed with the National Futures Association on 12 August 2026 for registration as a futures commission merchant (a broker that routes orders to an exchange). No exchange partner had been announced in the reports of the filing.
• Onyx Odds: Onyx Markets LLC filed the same type of application on 12 August 2026. A sister company, Onyx Predictions LLC, is already an introducing broker and NFA member (NFA ID 0576468); its customer accounts are held by NinjaTrader Clearing, which may clear event contracts through Kalshi’s clearing house.

An FCM application is not an approval, and a broker licence does not let a company run its own exchange. For the full picture of how sports event contracts work, which apps lead the market and where the court cases stand, read our hub on sports prediction markets.

Social sportsbook or prediction market: the differences

Are social sportsbooks safe to use?

They are legal businesses in the states they serve, but they sit outside gaming regulation. No state regulator tests their pricing, audits prize payments or handles complaints. Your protection is the operator’s rules, which favour the operator, and the reputation of the company behind the app. Check the details below before you purchase anything.

• Arbitration: Sportzino, Thrillzz and Rebet all require binding individual arbitration and waive class actions in their terms; Sportzino allows you to opt out within a stated time.
• Discretion: the operators reserve the right to change excluded states, minimums and rules at any time.
• Identity: the company holds your ID and payment details, so look for a named legal entity and a postal address in the rules, as Fliff, Thrillzz and Rebet print.
• Spending: coin packages are real money. Set a monthly figure before you start and stop when it is used, the same discipline our safer betting guide recommends for any betting product.

Avoid copycat apps that promise instant crypto redemptions with no identity checks or no published rules. A brand without a free entry method, a named operator or redemption terms is not operating a lawful sweepstakes, whatever its marketing says.

Can you use social sportsbooks outside the US?

No. The sweepstakes rules we read are open only to US residents located in permitted states, and Sportzino’s terms define every jurisdiction outside the United States as excluded. Readers in other countries should use a bookmaker licensed where they live; our licence check guide explains how to verify one.

If betting, sweepstakes play or trading stops being fun, US residents can call or text the National Council on Problem Gambling on 1-800-MY-RESET, free and confidential, around the clock.

Frequently asked questions

Are social sportsbooks legal?

They operate under US sweepstakes law, which allows prize promotions when entry is free. Several states have banned dual-currency sweepstakes, including California from 1 January 2026, New York from 5 December 2025, Indiana from 1 July 2026, Maine from 29 July 2026, Louisiana from 1 August 2026 and Oklahoma from 1 November 2026.

Can you win real money on a social sportsbook?

Yes, indirectly. Play coins have no value, but sweepstakes coins (Sweeps Coins, Fliff Cash, Rebet Cash and similar) can be redeemed for cash prizes after playthrough and identity checks. Minimums apply, for example 50 Sweeps Coins at Sportzino and 50 Fliff Cash at Fliff.

What is the minimum age for social sportsbooks?

It depends on the operator. Fliff and Rebet set 18, Thrillzz sets 19, and Sportzino requires the age of majority where you live. Fliff and Thrillzz also apply the local age of majority when it is higher than their own minimum.

Do I have to purchase coins to play?

No. Every lawful sweepstakes must offer a free alternative method of entry. Sportzino gives 5 Sweeps Coins per valid mail-in request, Fliff accepts handwritten request cards by post, and operators also give free coins through daily rewards and promotions.

Why are Fliff and Onyx Odds applying for CFTC-related licences?

Because state sweepstakes bans keep spreading. Fliff FCM LLC and Onyx Markets LLC filed for futures commission merchant registration with the National Futures Association on 12 August 2026, which would let them offer exchange-listed event contracts through a registered exchange.

What is the difference between a social sportsbook and a prediction market?

A social sportsbook uses play coins and redeemable sweepstakes coins under state sweepstakes law. A prediction market trades dollar-priced event contracts on a CFTC-registered exchange under federal law, with no coin model and no free-entry requirement.

Which states exclude all major social sportsbooks?

On the rules we read on 25 October 2026, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Tennessee appear on the excluded lists of Sportzino, Fliff, Thrillzz and Rebet alike.