Social Sportsbooks: Gambling or Just Entertainment?

A new type of site has hit the sports betting industry: social sportsbooks. With any social sportsbook, you use virtual coins to place bets — not real money. If you win enough of these coins back, you can then redeem them prizes. It’s that simple.

The rising number of social sportsbooks comes following the explosion of ‘social’ gambling. Essentially, this movement has been driven by Gen Z and Millennial bettors, as many of them prefer to bet with virtual coins rather than actual currency. This led to social casinos becoming popular at the start of the 2020s, but now the trend is shifting more towards social sportsbooks.

What’s great about social sportsbooks is that they cover almost every major sport. From the NFL to the NBA, all the popular sports leagues are available to bet on, just like inside regular sportsbooks. But because social sportsbooks use virtual coins, some players are confused as to whether they are platforms for gambling or pure entertainment.

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Are Social Sportsbooks Classed As Gambling Sites?

The short answer is no — social sportsbooks are not classed as gambling sites.

This might sound confusing (after all, they’re still ‘sportsbooks’) but the reason is because of the virtual coins. When you bet on sports using virtual coins, these coins have no value in the real world. So, in the eyes of the law, it can’t be classed as gambling. This is ultimately why social sportsbooks are legal in 49 out of 50 US states, with only Washington not allowing them.

Because social sportsbooks don’t technically involve gambling, it means they exist pretty much just for entertainment. In general, they are perfect for sports fans who:

Only want to bet for fun

Don’t like betting real money

Like winning prizes

Enjoy fantasy sports

Want to climb leaderboards

All of the social sportsbooks reviewed on the BettingTools site offer different prizes. The way you get your hands on these prizes is by betting the virtual coins, winning your bets, and then redeeming the coins. For example, Fliff – one of the leading social sportsbooks — uses ‘Fliff Cash’. If you want to win any of the prizes, you’ll need to place bets (e.g. NFL parlays) using Fliff Cash. If your bets are successful, you can then redeem the coins you win for prizes.

The Rise of Social Sportsbooks

Since the start of the new decade, social sportsbooks have really started to pick up speed. It shouldn’t come as a shock, either, as a cultural shift is taking place in the sports betting world. Now, the global economy means that people are less willing to bet huge amounts of money, but they still have an interest in the fun aspect of sports betting. After all, it’s a platform for putting your sports knowledge to the test while having some light-hearted fun with friends and fans. Naturally, this has led to the rise of social sportsbooks, which follow the same concept as traditional betting but remove the element of real money. Basically, everything is pretty much the same apart from the fact that real money is replaced by virtual money, which is something that’s proving to be very popular with new generation bettors.

How to Join a Social Sportsbook

Joining a social sportsbook is easy. You have plenty of them to choose from, including the likes of Thrillzz and Betmate, with all of them being free to join. All you have to do is visit your chosen site, hit the sign-up option, and register an account. In most cases, you’ll be given a welcome bonus, meaning you get some coins for free. These coins can then be used to start placing bets. And if you build a big enough collection of coins, whether it’s betting on real-life games or playing fantasy sports, you can then redeem prizes through the menu.

Social Sportsbook Coins: Explained

If you’re a sports fan, you’ve probably used a sportsbook in the past to bet real money. Because of this, the idea of using virtual coins might be a little confusing to you. Don’t worry, though, because it’s very easy.

In every social sportsbook, you have two types of coins. You have regular coins (which you use just for fun) and sweeps coins (which are the coins that can be redeemed for real prizes). Let’s look at the social sportsbook Fliff as an example:

✅ Fliff Coins: Can only be used for fun purposes

✅ Fliff Cash: Can be used to win real prizes

Here, Fliff Cash is the ‘sweeps’ currency, meaning it's more valuable. So, if you decide to use Fliff Cash, it’s recommended you place your bets more smartly, as this is the only currency that can win back prizes for you.

The type of coins you use is based on personal preference. For instance, if you’re an NFL fan, you might be interested in occasionally placing fun little bets for free, just so that you can test your knowledge. In this case, your best option is to use regular coins. But if you exclusively want to focus on winning prizes, then you should opt for the sweeps coins instead.

Final Word

Just like regular sportsbooks, social sportsbooks are booming in popularity. You get to bet on a huge range of leagues and sports, including the NBA and UFC, while also having access to fan-favorite betting markets like point spreads, parlays, prop bets, and more. So, whether you’re someone who just wants to bet on sports for fun or have recently been excluded by a regular sportsbook, you might want to consider joining the social sportsbook trend that continues to sweep across the US and Europe. Moving forward, these types of sites are expected to keep growing and eventually become part of the mainstream, which will mark a new and exciting era for the sports betting industry.

I (AKA CatBurg) have a lifelong passion for sports, especially football and basketball. I enjoy the thrill and excitement of sports betting and everything in between. My teams are (Packers #GoPackGo) and who I am betting on!