DraftKings Sportsbook Bonus
Most online sportsbooks lure new players with bonus bets that only award bonuses to bettors who lose their first wager. That is not the case with DraftKings.
Instead, DraftKings Sportsbook ensures all new users receive a welcome bonus. It comes in the form of a 20% first match deposit bonus worth up to $1,000 extra.
Bettors need to deposit a hefty $5,000 to max out the DraftKings Sportsbook bonus. However, if that’s too steep, new users can qualify with a first deposit of just $5.
Unlike most deposit match bonuses, the DraftKings offer does not give its bonus to customers upfront. Instead, bettors earn the bonus by placing wagers and entering fantasy contests.
For every $25 new customers wager, they receive a $1 increment of their bonus in the form of site credit. For example, someone who bets $100 on an NFL Sunday would receive $4. Similarly, a higher-roller who bets $500 on the next heavyweight title fight unlocks $20 in site credit.
DraftKings Sportsbook Sign-Up Bonus Pros
1. Everyone winsThe most significant upside of DraftKings’ welcome package is that it benefits all new users.
By comparison, standard bonus bet offers only benefit users who sign up, place their first wager, and lose. New customers who place a winning first bet receive nothing from bonus bet offers.
DraftKings stands unique among online sportsbooks by offering a simple first match bonus to all new customers. Win or lose, all new users receive an extra 20% on their first deposit.
2. Generous bonus termsThe bonus cap of $1,000 is also well above average for the industry, and the 90-day time frame to fulfill the bonus requirements is generous.
3. Bettors can earn partial bonusesNot to be overlooked is the unique manner in which DraftKings distributes its bonus funds. Standard industry practice in the past was to issue deposit bonuses all at once upfront.
The problem with receiving a deposit bonus all at once is that bettors must clear the entire bonus before it converts to cash, and often that means rolling it over 10, 20, or even 30 times. If time runs out before new users meet the wagering requirements attached to other offers, the bonus money vanishes.
By comparison, DraftKings issues its bonus instrumentally, at a clip of $1 for every $25 wagered. The benefit of the DraftKings approach is that active bettors are guaranteed to receive at least partial credit.
For example, consider a new DraftKings customer who deposits $5,000 to qualify for $1,000 in bonus funds. The bettor planned to wager $25,000 over the first 90 days, which would have been just enough to unlock the bonus in full. However, life gets in the way, and the bettor ends up only able to place $10,000 worth of wagers.
The customer in this example would still receive $400 in site credit, which they could easily convert to cash due to DraftKings’ reasonable 1x wagering requirements.
4. Bet how you wantContrary to marketing verbiage, the bonus bet promos offered by other sportsbooks incur risk. Typically, first bet promotions require users to wager their entire deposit on one bet, and if it loses, they have to wager the full refund in one shot.
With the DraftKings Sportsbook bonus, customers are free to bet how they want and how they want. The only restriction is that wagers on heavy favorites (shorter than -300) do not count towards its rollover requirements.
DraftKings Sportsbook Bonus Cons
The biggest downside to the DraftKings bonus is the low match rate. With a match rate of just 20%, bettors need to deposit $5,000 to earn the maximum bonus amount of $1,000.
The DraftKings deposit bonus would be far more appealing if the match rate was 100% or even 50%. At just 20%, it’s tough to get too excited about depositing a more modest amount, such as $100, and receiving just $20 in site credit.
Additionally, the 25x rollover requirement is steep, equating to just 4% cashback. That’s not too bad for customers in states where DraftKings offers online casino games because it’s an excellent bonus to grind out with low-house-edge offerings like blackjack.
But for everyone else, betting -110 NFL spreads or totals, the house edge is roughly 4.5%. As a result, most bettors will not break even over the long haul, although many will come awfully close.
As a result, it is critical for anyone who claims the DraftKings Sportsbook bonus to make intelligent bets with a low house advantage. Bettors should shop around for appealing wagers, odds boosts, and other promotions to lower or nullify the vig.
How does the DraftKings signup bonus compare to other offers?
Assuming readers don’t mind making a large initial deposit, the DraftKings bonus rates well above average compared to the rest of the field.
The $1,000 cap is solid, and the way customers earn bonus funds is innovative and fair. Additionally, the bonus is flexible enough to appeal to risk-averse types who feel more comfortable spreading their bets around.
The lack of betting restrictions and a generous time limit to clear the bonus round out an offer that is certainly worth considering. The biggest limitation is that its low match rate of just 20% isn’t super appealing for low rollers who make up the overwhelming majority of sports bettors.
Other DraftKings Sportsbook Promotions
DraftKings maintains a regular lineup of short-term promotions open to new and existing users alike. The promos vary at any given time depending on the popular sports in season. Generally, DraftKings promos offer customers chances to earn bonus bets, entries to giveaways, refunds, and boosted payouts.
Some recent examples of prior DraftKings promos follow.
Golf Top 10 Insurance: This promo offered bettors a chance to back any golfer to win an upcoming tournament. If that golfer did not win but still finished somewhere in the top 10, the original wager was refunded as a bonus bet worth up to $25.
NBA Bonus Bet: At the start of the latest NBA season, DraftKings offered a $25 bonus bet to anyone who placed a $25 or greater futures bet on the team to win the season championship.
Refer-a-Friend Bonus Bet Offer: DraftKings recently offered a bonus bet worth up to $100 to all users who referred a friend. The offer paid the referrer and the referral $25, $50, or $100, depending on the size of the referral’s first deposit.
Sportsbook Missions: This ongoing rewards system gives users new “missions,” or tasks to complete that unlock increasingly valuable rewards. As an example, the mission of the day might be to place an in-play wager of at least $X to earn a bonus bet.
