Sportsbook bonus options

The bonus offer plays a pivotal role today in promoting a sportsbook and attracting new customers, as well as reactivating dormant ones and encouraging active players to increase their play or deposits. Drawing on over 15 years of experience in the iGaming industry, I can affirm that the attractiveness of your bonus offer significantly influences the acquisition of new customers. The more appealing your offer, the easier it is to attract and retain a customer base.

However, the competition for customers doesn't end there. As a sportsbook, the objective is not only to acquire new customers but also to retain as many of them as possible. This involves reactivating those who haven't placed a bet in a while and keeping the active ones engaged. Consequently, many successful sportsbooks employ highly interactive offers, rewarding their active and valuable players to maintain a competitive edge.

New customers Bonus

There are various welcome bonus offers available in the market, and as a customer, it's essential to identify the one that aligns best with your preferences. For instance, if you're a customer who frequently engages in betting, isn't concerned about frequent withdrawals, and enjoys playing numerous parlays, we recommend opting for a high deposit welcome bonus. With this type of bonus, you can receive 100% or more on top of your initial deposit. Another option for players like you would be a small free bet. Some bookies initially offer 2,5 or 10 euros for free to place your first bet. Then, we think, why not try your luck and place a long parlay to potentially score a significant win. But those are just some of my views. You can combine them of course however you think is smarter.

Let’s go through some types of bonus offers for new customers.

Welcome deposit bonus

As we mentioned, that is the most common type of bonus offer, which mostly grants you 100% or more on top of your deposit. If we talk about the 100% deposit bonus, that would mean that if you deposit 100€ you will get an initial 100€ on your account. Mostly you will have an odds and turnover requirement in order to get the money unlocked and able to withdraw.

Let's explore how these offers function, but for now, we won't specify any particular sportsbooks.

If there is a 5x turnover requirement, you will need to wager a total of 1000€ to meet this, considering you had a 100€ deposit. Additionally, there will be a pricing requirement, such as a minimum price per fixture of 1.5 for example. This implies that all outcomes on the bet slip must have minimum odds of 1.5. If any of the outcomes have odds lower than this, your bet slip will not be considered for bonus turnover.

So from a bookie to a bookie this will vary and you will need to read the full requirement list carefully. There might be a lot of hidden requirements that you might not agree with, like repeating the same match in multiple betslips.

Freebet

Free bets are frequently extended to new customers as well, though not as regularly as deposit bonuses. Nevertheless, this offer is readily available in the market. It's a nice offer, especially for those who enjoy testing their luck with longer parlay bets without putting their own money at risk. For instance, if you receive a 5€ free bet, why not use it to place a "lottery ticket" and attempt to secure a substantial win with the initial bet? This approach certainly makes more sense than placing it on a single bet. Typically, the 5€ will be excluded from the winnings, allowing you to only claim the pure profit.

No risk first bet

Also a common Bonus where you can without a risk place your first bet. In case you win your first bet you can cash it out. In case you lose it, you will be added the amount of the bet you lost, to your account and you can use it as bonus money. Mostly the added amount will have some kind of requirement like a turnover or odds requirement per betslip in order to turn it into real cash.

Active Players

Promotions are not exclusive to new players; in fact, a reputable bookmaker should boast an excellent reward program for its existing customers. Relying solely on a sportsbook offer is insufficient to retain customers in today's competitive landscape. It's crucial to keep them engaged and provide a sense of reward for their loyalty to your platform. The ones we will mention are very similar to the ones we mentioned above, but they will have different requirements.

Reload Bonus

It is similar to the welcome deposit bonus. Actually it is a deposit bonus, but not the initial one anymore. Mostly for new customers you will have a 100% bonus, but for the existing ones it will be called a reload bonus, where you will be offered mostly 25 or 50% of reload. Rarely also 100% bonus which will be reserved for the VIP players mostly and not all of them. So if you are offered a 25% reload bonus, for the next deposit you will get an additional 25% on top of that.

Freebet

Once again, free bets come into play, but this time for existing customers—an adored bonus among loyal patrons. Receiving a message from your bookie stating that a certain amount has been added to your account is a delight for every customer. For active and reliable customers, the requirements are generally not too demanding; you might need to turn it over just once, allowing you to retain the initially added amount.

Most of the customers I worked with, let’s say 9/10 would choose the free bet rather than a deposit bonus, even though they would be offered way higher deposit bonuses. The 10€ freebet was always chosen before a 50% deposit bonus up to 100€.

Cashbacks

Cashback program is very popular with very active customers who play regularly. You will have sportsbooks which offer per default a 1% cashback on every 100€ lost for example and you can accumulate those cashbacks or it will be added automatically to your account every time you lose a bet. The cashback percentage can go even up to 20% depending on the customer.

Odds Boost

While not a conventional bonus offer, from the bookie's standpoint, it is still regarded as a bonus because you receive more value for your wager when betting on one of the boosted odds. Regular odds boosts are typically offered on a weekly or even daily basis. For instance, if the odds of 2.6 are boosted to 3.0, it represents a significant boost. With a wager of 100€, your potential profit would increase by 40€, translating to an additional 20% in winnings that you could claim with this boost.

Loyalty bonus points

Certain bookies provide points for each bet you place, with additional points awarded for lost bets and higher stakes. Loyalty programs of this nature allow you to redeem the accumulated points for various bonus options. For instance, if you've gathered 5000 points, you might have the choice between a 50€ free bet, priced at 2500 points, or a 100% deposit bonus, requiring 5000 points. This setup provides you with a degree of control over the loyalty bonus you choose to utilize.

Ask for Bonus

One piece of advice for all customers is to always inquire about bonuses. You'll be surprised at how often you can receive a bonus simply by reaching out to the customer support department. In the current competitive landscape, every bookie is vying for customers and is keen on retaining them. However, it's important not to be overly greedy and to remain realistic in your requests. If you lost 50€ last week, don't expect a 50€ free bet; instead, a more realistic request might be a 2€ free bet or a 25% reload for your next deposit. Look for bookmakers with live support chat and try your luck.