WOW Vegas The Latest Big Sweeps Brand To Launch Rips Product

Card rips are fast becoming one of sweepstakes gaming's top emerging products.

In the span of about four months, sweeps operators have gone from testing betas of digital pack openings to fully fledged launches. This week brought another big name: WOW Vegas, which emailed players to announce the launch of WOW Rips.

Rips have become one of the main ways sweeps brands are reaching players again in California, New York, and other states that have banned dual-currency sweepstakes casinos.

Tracking major operators offering rips

Crown Coins was the first major sweeps brand to try rips. Since then, the list has grown quickly.

Modo is the other recent newcomer. ARB Interactive, the company behind Modo.us and Publishers Clearing House, unveiled Modo Rips on Nov. 2 as part of its new Modo "Super Gaming App" that puts sweeps and social games, Modo Arcade, and Modo Rips under one account, with real-money predictions coming soon.

Modo Rips replaces Modo Boxes, the mystery box product Modo launched earlier this year, which moved to a dollar-based Cash Wallet on Oct. 2. ARB CEO Patrick Fechtmeyer told Sweepsy that collectibles are "about more than simply opening a box."

Rips were an industry before gaming showed up

Sweeps operators didn't invent rips. Digital pack openings were already a booming business of their own, built by collectibles and tech companies with no ties to casino-style gaming.

The biggest standalone app is probably Rips by Triumph, although other platforms have grown just as fast:

• Courtyard told Barron's it is on pace for $2 billion in annual sales.

• Collector Crypt has generated $1 billion in sales since December 2024.

• Arena Club, co-founded by Derek Jeter, and GameStop, with its Power Packs, have also built digital pack products around graded cards.

Gaming companies came later, and sweeps operators are among the latest arrivals. That means Modo, WOW Vegas, and the rest aren't just competing with each other. They're competing with an established rips market that collectors were already using.

Why sweeps operators are turning to rips

Since the bans in California and New York took effect, dual-currency sweeps play has been off the table in two of the country's biggest markets. More states have followed, and Sweepsy has tracked a long list of alternative models operators have tried in response, from single-currency sites to subscriptions.

Rips are also part of a much bigger wave. Fanatics, Underdog, PrizePicks and OG.com have all launched digital rips products, and a Bank of America note this month described rips as a possible bridge between gambling and collecting, much like prediction markets bridged gambling and finance.

For sweeps operators, that makes rips both a workaround and a growth play. They're a way to win back players they lost to bans, with a product the rest of the gaming industry is also chasing.

WOW's version of rips distances itself from Sweeps Coins

Not every operator is doing rips the same way. Some have rips bundled into a Sweeps Coin store, and others have rips run as a separate cash product.

WOW Vegas' version sits furthest from the sweeps model, alongside Modo, whose rips product runs on a dollar-based Cash Wallet. Some others still tie rips to digital coin purchases. WOW Rips is walled off from the sweepstakes side of WOW Vegas entirely.

Delayed launch?

On Sept. 17, WOW Vegas advertised WOW Rips on social media, by email, and on its website, promoting its Pokémon and multi-sport packs. Less than a week later, every public mention of WOW Rips was gone, as The Lines reported. WOW Vegas never said why.

That first version was built to run on WOW Vegas' Sweeps Coins. Some industry observers argued that was the problem, since tying physical card packs to the dual-currency model invites more scrutiny. The relaunched version removes the sweeps link entirely.

Here was the email WOW Vegas sent to its players. This one, obtained by Sweepsy, was addressed directly to a California player.

WOW RIPS IS HERE!

The wait is over California - let's RIP!

It's been a while since we've been able to offer you games with redeemable prizes in California - and we've missed you!

Today, we're excited to introduce WOW Rips, our new card-ripping game. Rip open packs, reveal collectible cards and choose what happens next: redeem your cards or trade them back to us and cash out their value.

To celebrate, we're giving you $1 in FREE PLAY to experience WOW Rips for yourself.

Your first rip is waiting. What will you pull?

WOW Rips runs on its own currency, CSH (shown as "$ Cash"), worth $1 each and added by deposit.

A couple rules stand out:

• The minimum withdrawal is 6 CSH, compared with 50 Sweeps Coins on WOW Vegas' sweeps side.

• Players can switch odds modes before ripping, though the rules don't explain how the modes differ.

For now, packs are limited to Pokémon and sports cards.

Will rips get the sweeps treatment?

Rips get around the dual-currency language in today's sweeps bans.

Still, some operators are bracing for scrutiny. PrizePicks sent a 70-page legal white paper to state attorneys general before launching its rips product. California also has an older law on sports-card "grab bags" that some observers think could apply to rips-style products.

So far, though, this year's crop of proposed sweeps bans ignore rips entirely. Pennsylvania's pre-filed 2027 ban, for example, focuses on the dual-currency system. Wyoming's touches on dual-currency and single-currency, but not rips.

Until that changes, expect more sweeps operators to follow Crown Coins, MyPrize, Modo, and now WOW Vegas into rips.