Back in 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the blanket ban on sports betting and gambling across the United States. There were always exceptions – Nevada, Atlantic City, Tribal Casinos – but the decision by the SCOTUS allows states to make up their own minds. Since then, a couple of dozen state houses have signed bills to allow (some form) of legal sports betting and casino, including online gambling activities. Some states will follow once the bills have been finalized. Others, such as Utah, will not likely follow in the foreseeable future.
But while many Americans have more access to sports betting and casino (online and offline) than ever before, it’s interesting to see some of the forms that comes in. And perhaps most notably, we can point to the rise in popularity of online sweepstake casinos in the USA. They are interesting for several reasons, including their business model, how they operate within the boundaries of the law, and their surge in popularity. The latter tells us a little bit about one of the most fascinating concepts in modern marketing and commerce – product gamification.
An Alternative to Real-Money Casinos
Anyway, let’s start at the beginning. What are sweepstakes casinos? They are alternatives to real-money casinos, allowing players to access casino-style games online. Players purchase coins in the form of tokens rather than play for real money. The games on offer are provided by the same games developers, including top brands like Pragmatic Play, NetEnt, Blueprint, and Play N’ Go, which power the (real-money) online casino sector. In fact, there is little-to-no difference in terms of the games you play, except for the fact that it’s not for real money.
Of course, there must be some kind of incentive to play. And there often is – usually, you can exchange your coins for prizes or enter sweepstakes games for real-money prizes. Clearly, in this respect, the operators will have to tread carefully between what does and what doesn’t constitute gambling in a legal sense. But they do adhere to the law – sweepstakes casinos are legal in 49 of the 50 states, with only Washington state, which has some specific laws on sweepstakes prizes, deeming them legal.
But while it’s interesting to see how these platforms interpret the law, the business model goes beyond that. Sweepstakes casinos are often seen as synonymous with social casinos (although there is a difference). Nonetheless, the social aspect is important, particularly in terms of gamification. In short, these are entertainment sites at heart, and they use gamification to keep players interested and engaged.
The Allure of Unlocking New Content
A good example of gamification on sweepstakes casinos is the tantalizing offer of unlocking more content. This is not unique to sweepstakes casinos – go to any freemium gaming site to see the offer of more content when you play. Indeed, if you aren’t subscribed to Twitter today, you’ll see prompts to sign up for better content when you subscribe. The “pay for more” model is gamification in action, although sweepstakes casinos follow a purer model, including unlocking rewards and new games when you win and earn coins.
There is an understanding from many of these platforms that gamification can come in the form of competition, encouraging players to play more through the incentive of winners’ tables and leaderboards, possibly in conjunction with more prizes. Traditional online casino is usually a solitary experience – player versus the house – but the fact that you can compete against other players lends a new, more social, aspect to sweepstakes casinos.
Of course, we cannot overlook the fact that people like to play casino games for the sheer entertainment value. We’ve all played poker with matchsticks before, and sweepstakes casinos allow you to play 100s of casino games without – technically – risking real money. Some of the premium slots on the sites resemble video games in terms of graphics and gameplay, so the winning and losing of money can be something of a secondary consideration.
Nevertheless, it seems that sweepstakes casinos are here to stay, even if every state in the nation liberalizes online gambling laws. They offer something different from regular online casinos, tapping into gamification and the social side of casino games. The freemium business model strategy seems to be working well, with millions of registered players across the US playing on platforms like Pulsz, McLuck, and Chumba Casino.
