What Is Fliff? Inside the Origin of the Free Sports Betting App’s Name

Fliff is a free, legal social sports betting app that’s quickly gaining popularity across the US.

Although one would think its user bases would be biggest in states where real-money sports betting is illegal, such as California, Fliff CEO Matt Ricci told California Casinos the app’s three top markets are New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.

He also revealed the answer to a question many have asked: Why is it called Fliff?

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Why Is It Called Fliff?

Turns out, we have South Park to thank for the unusual name of this sports betting app that allows users to redeem fake game currency for real cash prizes.

Well, sort of.

In his exclusive interview with California Casinos, Ricci said he discovered the name while watching a short film written by one of South Park‘s writers. In that film, there was a guy at a bar tossing around money. And he called the money “fliff.”

“It’s funny. When we were starting, we didn’t want to name it with anything that was just like ‘bet’ or ‘play’ or the typical kinds of sports betting apps,” Ricci said. “The priorities were not to have a typical kind of sports betting name, and then also we wanted a name that was simple and memorable and that we thought also, people could use in different ways.

“So what we started to do was look at other currencies and slang forms of people talking about money and other ways people were referring to money. And that was kind of the direction we were thinking.

“(When I saw the short film) I was like, (fliff) just fits sort of the mentality. It’s what we’re trying to go after, being able to play and have fun on a lower-stakes, much lower-stakes basis and just giving people that option to have the freedom to play and the competitive gaming and that stuff like that. It kind of stuck, so we kind of went with it.”

Fliff is legal in every US sports betting market. However, you can only play with Fliff Coins (not redeemable to real cash prizes) in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, and Washington.

About the Author

Matthew Bain

Matthew Bain started as News Editor and Content Manager at California Casinos in 2022. Before that, he spent six years as a sports reporter and then deputy sports editor for the Des Moines Register, during which time he won nine statewide journalism awards, including the Genevieve Mauck Stoufer Outstanding Young Iowa Journalists Award. As deputy sports editor, Matthew oversaw the Register's recruiting coverage while also innovating the outlet's high school sports coverage. Matthew graduated from San Diego State and grew up in California, but he's somehow a Boston Celtics fan. Long story.