{"id":276930,"date":"2023-06-09T15:15:26","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T20:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=276930"},"modified":"2023-06-12T13:34:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T18:34:04","slug":"sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the \u201cfree-to-play\u201d Fliff app violates the Wire Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, and anti-bookmaking laws.<\/p>\n

\"Fliff's
Fliff’s online app on display on mobile phones, above. The company is facing a new class action lawsuit over its “free to play” offer. (Image: Brand Purist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The plaintiff, Bishoy Neshim, claims he lost over $7,000 using the app. He seeks more than $5 million in damages for himself and others who may have been affected.<\/p>\n

\n

The complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California characterizes Fliff\u2019s free-to-play business model as a \u201clure”\u00a0 to attract the consumer with the free option (\u201cFliff Coins\u201d) and then \u201cswitch\u201d them to playing with real money (\u201cFliff Cash\u201d). That can be withdrawn and wired directly to user\u2019s bank accounts. \u201cThat\u2019s the epitome of an online sports book,\u201d the complaint says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The June 6 filing also seeks an injunction to stop Fliff from offering its contests across state lines, an alleged violation of the federal Wire Act.<\/p>\n

Fliff is a social sportsbook that allows users to play with virtual coins. People go online and make picks on favorite players and teams without real cash. It does offer the chance to redeem cash prizes and operates using the sweepstakes model. The app is available in 49 states.<\/p>\n

Voters in California voted against legalized sports betting in November 2022.<\/p>\n

Not Just in California, Not Just Fliff<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fliff Cofounder Matt Ricci has not yet responded to Casino.org’s<\/em> attempts for comment, but has previously been quoted as saying his customers are not necessarily sports bettors and enjoy games played for fun.<\/p>\n

But in addition to California, Fliff is also under scrutiny in Ohio and other free-to-play apps resembling online sportsbooks.<\/p>\n

\n

In May, the Ohio Casino Control Commission also listed Lucra Sports, Prediction Strike, TeamStake, and Dynasty as under investigation. Fliff has stopped taking money in Ohio as regulators look into the matter. Sports betting is legal in Ohio and more than half of US States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Much of the 18-page complaint against Fliff in California revolves around the similarities between Fliff and real-money sportsbooks. Hence the Wire Act argument. Because of that, it remains to be seen if this sets a precedent for sweepstakes model casinos, though the filing could encourage other class action.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The plaintiff is seeking a jury trial, but court watchers say don\u2019t bet on that. Companies facing a legal challenge to their business model tend to settle if their cases are not dismissed.<\/p>\n

Fliff has until\u00a0June 28\u00a0to respond to the complaint.<\/p>\n

Dennis Stewart, a former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, represents Bishoy Nessim Bishoy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the \u201cfree-to-play\u201d Fliff app violates the Wire Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, and anti-bookmaking laws. The plaintiff, Bishoy Neshim, claims he lost over $7,000 using the app. He seeks more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":276936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-09T20:15:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-12T18:34:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Craig Boswell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Craig Boswell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/\",\"name\":\"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-09T20:15:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-12T18:34:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e6078962c48aceb0701d2ca8bea14256\"},\"description\":\"A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":403},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e6078962c48aceb0701d2ca8bea14256\",\"name\":\"Craig Boswell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/cropped-Untitled-design-8-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/cropped-Untitled-design-8-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Craig Boswell\"},\"description\":\"Craig Boswell currently covers legislation and US Gulf Coast gaming news. He joined Casino.org News in 2023. Craig brings more than 25 years of Journalistic experience to the organization including more than a decade as a National News Correspondent for a trio of networks. Based out of Washington, DC he has covered the White House, Congress and breaking news around the world. Craig describes his work as \u201ca front seat to life\u201d and expects that philosophy to continue as the gaming industry grows and evolves. Craig grew up in the South and admits he can still occasionally put 14 syllables in a word, fortunately that is only when speaking and not when he is writing. Contact Craig at craig.boswell@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/craig-boswell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit - Casino.org","description":"A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit - Casino.org","og_description":"A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2023-06-09T20:15:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-12T18:34:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":403,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Craig Boswell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Craig Boswell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/","name":"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png","datePublished":"2023-06-09T20:15:26+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-12T18:34:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e6078962c48aceb0701d2ca8bea14256"},"description":"A California man has filed a proposed class action accusing Fliff Inc. of illegal sports betting in the Golden State. The complaint claims the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Screen-Shot-2023-06-09-at-3.09.52-PM.png","width":670,"height":403},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting-app-fliff-faces-5-million-class-action-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sportsbetting App Fliff Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e6078962c48aceb0701d2ca8bea14256","name":"Craig Boswell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/cropped-Untitled-design-8-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/cropped-Untitled-design-8-96x96.png","caption":"Craig Boswell"},"description":"Craig Boswell currently covers legislation and US Gulf Coast gaming news. He joined Casino.org News in 2023. Craig brings more than 25 years of Journalistic experience to the organization including more than a decade as a National News Correspondent for a trio of networks. Based out of Washington, DC he has covered the White House, Congress and breaking news around the world. Craig describes his work as \u201ca front seat to life\u201d and expects that philosophy to continue as the gaming industry grows and evolves. Craig grew up in the South and admits he can still occasionally put 14 syllables in a word, fortunately that is only when speaking and not when he is writing. Contact Craig at craig.boswell@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/craig-boswell\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276930"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":276937,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276930\/revisions\/276937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}