The primary function of a sportsbook is to take your deposits, offer you NFL betting action, and then payout if you win. Interestingly enough, as the sports betting industry has become more competitive, membership style rewards programs commonly found in the airline, retail, and hospitality industry have been ported into sportsbooks. As a result, players that take advantage of these sportsbook rewards programs can often win prizes, get special privileges at sportsboks, or even earn cash back depending on how frequently they wager.
In brief, sportsbook rewards programs are really no different than your typical airline or retail program: first you signup, second you qualify for a certain rewards level, and third you accumulate points as you use various sportsbook services and place bets. The more points you earn (and save) the better your reward for your loyalty will be.
Best Sportsbook Rewards Programs
Pros and Cons of Sportbook Loyalty Programs
As the NFL betting season rapidly approaches, we’d like to offer a list of pros and cons about sportsbook loyalty programs, which might be helpful as you choose a sportsbook for this coming NFL season.
Sportsbook Loyalty Program Pros
- Cash Back Rewards – No one can argue with getting a cash rebate placed in their account after earning a substantial amount of reward points. Cash rewards can be withdrawn immediately and are not subject to any bonus rollover conditions. Most importantly, cash rewards allow you to spend your rewards earnings on things you actually want, versus getting gifts that you may or may not ever use.
- Registration is Free – Believe it or not, joining these rewards programs doesn’t cost a dime when it comes to actually registering your name in the system. Yes, in reality it costs money because you earn points through wagering, but the program membership itself is FREE. This means you don’t have to come out of pocket to be rewarded for your loyalty. Also, you can sign up at any time – although you can not earn points retroactively for wagers you made in the past – which is very convenient because you don’t have to follow overly complicated rules or restrictions in order to access the program.
Sportsbook Loyalty Program Cons
- Minimal Benefits for Recreational Players – As mentioned above in the “pros” section, high rollers will tend to reap the most rewards of any player loyalty program. Conversely, players who only bet a few dollars now and then will not see much in terms of prizes or rewards, simply because the system is setup to reward customers based on dollar units wagered. As a result, if you only bet $500 over the course of an NFL betting season, you can’t expect to earn much in terms of player rewards.
- Some Rewards Are Clearly Out of Reach – As a follow up to the above “con”, it should be noted that sportsbooks don’t like to give anything away for free, even if it is for their best customers. Accordingly, earning a substantial amount of cash back, for example, is out of reach for even the most dedicated of gamblers, since the top prize of $715 is awarded to players with 90,000 or more points. To translate, that means you have to have $90,000 in regular wagering action, or $45,000 in parlay action to get points. For most people, those amounts of money are out of the question, and they will probably never wager more the $10,000 over the course of two or three NFL betting seasons.
- Reward Points Lotteries Not Worth It – One common of any customer loyalty program is earning entries towards some sort of drawing for a big prize. The catch is that you’re actually wagering your loyalty points, which means you could stand to lose them all and get nothing. Instead, we recommend taking the more humble prize offers that do not require an entry into a lottery. Yes, you may only get a T-shirt or free bet, but getting something is better than seeing all your reward points go up in smoke in a lottery. Remember, thousands of players with varying amounts of points enter these lotteries, so the chance of winning is remote.
- Rules and Restrictions for using points – Much like a first deposit bonus or reload bonus, some rewards programs have rules and restrictions for using your reward points. For example, a customer may only be allowed to use no more than 1000 points towards lottery entries, even if they have a ton of reward points available for redemption. As we stated above, lotteries are not worth the time. Instead, redeem your points for small gifts and consider them party favors for your patronage at the online sportsbook.
Regular season NFL betting is literally days away, so join one of our featured sportsbooks while you have the chance. Next, once you have an account, go sign up for the player rewards program right away, so you can be sure to begin accumulating points right out of the gate. If you have any questions, call customer service before you wager, just so you can be clear about what types of bets actually earn rewards points.
Reward points are fun to have as the holiday season approaches, and the small gifts listed in the merchandise section make great stocking stuffers for NFL betting fans. Also, if you qualify, there’s nothing better than getting cash back for being a great customer.
Have fun this NFL betting season!