Pop culture and sports meet in one of the newest sweeps games, FunPicks. It’s a collaboration between social gaming platform Sparket and Sportzino Casino. FunPicks offers unique takes on pop culture and sports. FunPicks allows Sportzino users to place picks on various events for fun or against other players. If users pick correctly, they win a portion of the collected prize pool.
Bonus visited the platform on Oct. 3 and saw questions ranging from when singer Taylor Swift would gain an engagement ring to which of eight NFL quarterbacks, including Brock Purdy, would have the most passing yards.
Sparket is a business-to-business (B2B) platform that offers customizable free-to-play and pay-to-play parimutuel betting. Meanwhile, Sportzino is a sweepstakes casino that offers casino-style games and social picks similar to real-money sports betting. However, sweeps games don’t involve cash and are governed by US sweepstakes laws, unlike real money online casinos that are regulated and taxed at the state level.
FunPicks is available to players over 18 in all US states except Idaho, Georgia, Michigan, and Washington.
Evan Fisher, the co-founder of Sparket, spoke about the company’s first sweepstakes partner. He told PlayCA, another Catena Media publication:
This partnership will allow us to really lean into the alternative content categories that make Sparket so unique. Sportzino’s ‘FunPicks’ as our product is called, will feature prediction pools across reality TV, pop culture, alternative sports, and unique bet types on traditional sports (like Battle of the QBs).
Sweeps Games: What Are FunPicks?
Now live at Sportzino, FunPicks highlights include:
- Unique Events: Place picks on unique pop culture and sports events. Examples include picking the winning coach on The Voice, whether Taylor Swift will get engaged by the end of 2025, or betting on sports like Jai-Alai or bull riding.
- No Fixed Odds: FunPicks’ odds are not fixed but are based on the pick amount per outcome against other players. The odds can change as other players pick against or with you, and they’re not final until the pool closes.
- Winners Share the Total Pool: If your pick is correct, your winnings are calculated based on the number of winners and picks placed.
When they log in to Sportzino Casino, users can access FunPicks by clicking on the section with the same name at the top left. They can place picks using Gold Coins or Sweepstakes Coins. When they click on each event, users will see the current pool size, projected win percentage, and winning odds.
Like pari-mutuel horse racing, the odds and win percentage change as more users place picks. The pool ending time is listed under each event. When it drops to less than one week, a timer lets players know exactly how long until it closes. Another available option is to use the social sharing functionality to share pools.
There is also a help page on the left of the lobby explaining how FunPicks work. There are tutorial and FAQ pages about Functionality and Terminology.
Sportzino Becomes Latest Sparket Partner
While the Sportzino collaboration is the first in the sweeps space, Sparket recently expanded to social gaming through a deal with PENN Entertainment (Penn Entertainment 16,23 -1,46%) for its social casino, PENN Play Casino. Through the partnership, Sparket will integrate its free-to-play live event technology into the social gaming site.
Sparket has also partnered with several casinos. Around the time of the PENN deal, the company announced deals with Soboba Casino Resort and Casino Pauma in California. Sparket’s technology allows the two casinos’ players to earn prizes and reward points while playing games and participating in contests on their mobile devices, something the Sparket deal with PENN also includes.
Prior Sparket collaborations include Station and Red Rock casinos in Nevada, Xpoint, WagerWire, Engaged Nation, Pro League Network, and the World Jai Alai League.
Sportzino Is Not Alone In Pop Culture Social Gaming
Social betting on pop culture events is not exclusive to Sparket and Sportzino.
Goss Inc., a UK-based app targeting women with pink aesthetics, offers a similar social betting experience to users over 18 in 45 US states, Canada, Ireland, and the UK. It allows them to answer questions about reality TV, celebrities, and trending events. The platform functions similarly to a sweepstakes casino, where users engage with the app using two types of currency: Coins and Diamonds.
Users can play for fun using the Coins currency. They can collect Coins by playing quizzes, personality tests, and opinion polls. Goss gives players the option to turn Coins into Diamonds by using them to predict various pop culture outcomes and questions. They can also answer 100-question quizzes for a chance to earn additional Diamonds.
As a sweepstakes-based platform, Goss offers various ways to win more Diamonds, including social media promos and mail-in sweepstakes. Once users accumulate enough Diamonds, they can redeem them for physical prizes in the Goss shop. Prizes include makeup and jewelry but not cash prizes.
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