Sports bettors are a hot commodity as more and more states legalize sports betting, either online, in-person or both. And many online sportsbooks try hard to get you to sign up with them by offering a generous welcome bonus when you register for a new account.
Welcome bonuses are a great way to attract customers and help online sportsbooks sign new people up. But what about getting you to stick around after the welcome bonus? Getting you to register for a new account is one thing, but how do they get you to come back?
Allow me to describe from personal experience how a few sportsbooks I have an account with have tried to get me to come back.
I am not a year-round bettor. I feel like I know football, so I keep my betting to the NFL and college football seasons. At the start of the 2020 season, I opened accounts with quite a few sportsbooks online: FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and PointsBet.
I liked the boosted odds bets on PointsBet, so I took most of my business to them. After losing the relatively small amount I had deposited with the other books, I did not go back. Once the football season ended, I stopped betting.
It took some time, but eventually, I heard from DraftKings, PointsBet, and BetMGM via email; I have yet to get any correspondence from FanDuel. DraftKings, BetMGM, and PointsBet have contacted me via email with special offers, i.e., parlay boost tokens, deposit matches, free bets, etc.
I heard from DraftKings more than anyone when I did the least amount of business with them. They do not send so much correspondence that I feel annoyed by it, but they have sent a good amount of it. But their offers were a lot like their welcome bonus — unimpressive.
Of the three I have heard from, BetMGM sent the least, mostly parlay boost tokens. But parlays do not interest me, so I have no need for them. Giving me something that only pays off if I happen to get lucky and win a long shot (like a parlay) will not get me to come back.
As for PointsBet, they have sent a few offers via email, but not so many that I feel annoyed or so few that I wonder if they want me back. The offers they have sent were all good ones too. Nothing too lucrative, but for a cautious bettor like me, they are great.
With DraftKings and BetMGM, I felt like they were trying too hard to upsell me like they wanted to appear interested in my business but were not interested at all. But PointsBet did enough and sent the kind of promotions that interest me, which is why I will be betting with them once again.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
