Why Social Gaming Could Lead To Legalized Sports Betting
A lot of states in the U.S. have made it clear that they want there to be legally licensed and regulated sports betting in the United States at some point. That being said, it has not been an easy fight to this point but there is some good news. ESPN reported on May 25th that legislation is being put together to repeal the federal ban on sports gambling and allow for legal sports betting in the US. They call it the Gaming Accountability and Modernization Enhancement Act or GAME Act and in Section 8 of that proposed Act is where you will find the push to repeal PASPA.
This is in the very early stages though so there will be a long wait before more news on that is available but there is another bit of news that could change the sports betting debate as well. A lot of states are realizing that they could put their fantasy sports gambling laws to good use as they could use them to implement forms of single-game sports betting, masked as fantasy sports.
Social Gaming & Sports Betting
One way to do this is for casinos to offer sports betting opportunities but without the money involved. That way they wouldn’t be breaking the federal law of PASPA. A social casino company called FlowPlay announced recently that they had released the first social sports betting solution in the industry. Powered by Sportradar so you know the details will be as exact and professional as it gets.
You typically see a lot of social casino offerings being able to avoid the legal hurdles that actual money wagers come with so this new social sports concept can be a big deal for sports fans. This is a huge part of the argument that FlowPlay is using to argue for legal sports betting as long as it is social. They shared a press release saying: “Especially built for the U.S. market where real-money gambling online is illegal and unregulated in nearly all forms, FlowPlay’s platform leverages free-to-play mechanics. Through this regulation-free approach, FlowPlay is granting partners access to a variety of free-to-play fantasy sports offerings such as daily fantasy sports (DFS), real-time betting experiences, and traditional sportsbooks.”
If sports gambling does one day become legal and PASPA is eliminated in sports betting states, then products that are similar to actual sports betting will have the most realistic shot of making an immediate impact. This is why this could be so big because companies that offer social sportsbooks, like FlowPlay, will have a head start when everybody then begins to get their name out there.
FlowPlay will be trying to follow the same model as WinView, which already has a social in-play sports betting app. It’s free to play at WinView and there are no real-money bets as to not break the law but they do provide for cash prizes. They are funded by various advertisement partnerships and they are still hoping to implement real-money wagering in the future. The executive chairman of WinView, Tom Rogers touched on what’s next saying “Following last fall’s successful start, these investments will enable us to take a significant step forward toward reaching our mobile, social and gaming business goals while capitalizing on fan excitement across virtually all professional sports including basketball, baseball, and football. We also will strive to be part of the in-stadium experience, enabling fans to predict plays from their seats.”