Bonuses in the Sportsbook Niche: Legal Offers in 2024

Rewards for users are an integral element of the bookmaker’s advertising strategy. With its help, operators can attract the attention of a loyal audience, build trusting relationships with regular customers, and encourage gamblers after a series of losing bets.

How Incentives Work

They are considered a popular marketing technique in the betting business.

The main task of rewards is to motivate the audience to have an ongoing interaction with the bookmaker. These include the placement of bids on sports and cyber competitions, participation in tournaments, online sweepstakes, etc.

Bonuses are actively used by both major market participants and iGaming startups.

Large companies, as a rule, set trends in this field while medium and small enterprises quickly start following them. Thus, such well-known providers as 888 Holdings, Flutter Entertainment, and Betfair were among the first to offer multi-level cashback. Today this option is available in many bookmakers’ offices.

Rules for Accruing Rewards

They are actually quite simple. Entrepreneurs give up part of the margin to generate higher income in the future.

The sum that the company loses is presented in the form of bonuses, discounts, cashback, and other benefits. The larger and more diverse the loyalty system, the higher the chances of attracting and retaining the target audience.

The payment of incentives is a mandatory item of expenditure for any sportsbook brand. First, operators calculate GGR (the difference between the bets and winnings of players). After that, they determine NGR (gross gaming revenue minus all additional costs, including rewards).

Principles of the Transfer of Bonuses

Key aspects that business owners need to pay attention to:

1. Goals of the incentives. They are always different. Some activities are aimed at attracting the audience and others at interacting with already registered clients.
2. Positive effect. The use of the tool must bring specific and measurable results. This is an increase in website traffic and the average check of users, as well as strengthening the brand’s image.
3. Reasonable cost. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the interests of both the gamblers and the bookmaker. Gifts that are too big will negatively affect the company’s profits, while small bonuses will go unnoticed.
4. Flexibility and scalability. A loyalty system where the size of the reward is proportional to the playing time or the total value of the bets can be called an effective one. The more time a person spends on the platform, the larger incentives they receive.
5. Supply and demand. As a rule, bids on popular sports do not require additional bonuses. It is better to encourage betting on less-known disciplines, such as cricket or water sports.

Advantages of the Provision of Rewards

Let us consider why this marketing tool is so in demand:

1. Growth in Internet traffic. Thanks to incentives, operators can attract those who are most interested in the gameplay. Bonuses motivate them to make initial deposits, place bids, and participate in promotions. With the help of rewards, it is possible to encourage beginners whose first sessions were not very successful.
2. Customer retention. Users stay on the website for a long time if their actions are rewarded with gifts, discounts, and free bets from time to time. When they do not receive anything, it may cause a loss of interest in the betting shop. Gamblers stop playing and move on to competitors.
3. Formation of loyalty. Clients and B2B partners have more positive attitude towards bookmakers that offer attractive bonus programs. They help the betting project stand out and make iGaming brands famous and recognisable in the market.
4. Creation of a personalised experience. Modern software can build behavioural patterns for groups of users and specific visitors to the website. Thanks to this, people receive adapted bonuses, the response to which is traditionally higher. Entrepreneurs themselves choose who to encourage: beginners, regular players, or the VIP segment.

Legal Rewards in the Sportsbook Niche

Incentives are a completely legitimate marketing tool.

In most cases, their accrual is regulated by the Gambling Commission, which grants a licence to the bookmaker. For example, Sweden sets limits on the amount of bonuses per person. In the UK, Denmark, and Germany there are restrictions on the number of free bets that can also be part of a loyalty program.

The most popular types of rewards are:

Wager Bonus

This is one of the most popular options that can be found in many sportsbook firms. It shows the number of bids that must be placed to withdraw money to a bank account or e-wallet. If the wager’s description is set at x15, then the gift must be won back 15 times.

Bookmakers often set limits on:

• type of sporting activity;
• kind of deposit;
• time, and other parameters.

Today, there are practically no bonuses without wagering, and their conditions are also becoming stricter. Betting shops establish restrictions on all types of incentives, including welcome bonuses. Thanks to this, it is possible to quickly identify fraudsters (for example, bots) and work only with a solvent and interested audience.

Express Rewards

These are daily special offers from bookmakers with the following individually selected characteristics:

• wagering coefficient;
• sport discipline;
• type of event (championship or a single match);
• a multiplier of a basic bet, etc.

Each bookmaker offers unique express bonuses. In this case, a lot depends on the financial capabilities of operators, the preferences of the audience, and the level of competition. Most often, such rewards are dedicated to top events (like matches of the UEFA or the FIFA World Cup).

The attention of gamblers will already be focused on the tournament, and the availability of an express incentive will motivate them to make bigger deposits.

Combo Boost

This option is similar to the previous one. These are several stakes on different events and disciplines (for example, football, basketball, and tennis). To win, people must guess the outcome of each bet (there can be from 3 to 7 of them or even more).

Correct prediction provides another benefit in the form of Combo Boost. The bonus is calculated as a coefficient. Top bookmakers additionally provide up to 70% of the winnings, taking into account the complexity of the express bid.

The incentive can be awarded based on various criteria, such as high positions in a forecasters’ tournament or regular participation in an online betting pool. The list of conditions and bonus odds vary depending on the bookmaker.

Free Bet

It can be dated to a specific action (for example, the installation of a mobile application) or appear randomly. The amount depends on the operators, as well as the rules for using the bonus.

Types of the reward depending on the conditions for receiving it:

• for registration;
• for the deposition of money;
• based on a promotional code;
• festive (birthday or New Year);
• gift;
• non-deposit.

The most popular kind is the No Risk bet. Gamblers use only those funds that were provided by the bookmaker. If the bet is not successful, then they simply lose the bonus money but not their savings.

Free bids with the OnlyWin mark are characterised by an unusual way of calculating prizes. In the case of victory, not the entire amount of the winnings goes to the customer’s account but the difference between the total sum of the reward and the offered incentive.

Insurance Bet

This is one of the bookmaker’s privileges, presented in the form of a win-win bid. If a player doubts one of the outcomes but wants to take a risk, then he can insure his deposit. In case of failure, the funds will be fully or partially returned to his account.

Most entrepreneurs prefer to insure only express bets since they are considered the riskiest. There are few locations where the entire amount is compensated: most often, clients can receive from 10 to 30%.

Cashback

This is a return of part of the funds that gamblers lost on the sportsbook platform.

Such a bonus has a floating percentage. Beginners usually get minimal compensation, while VIP clients receive a higher rate.

Cashback can be regular or presented as a one-time promotion. Some operators promise to pay back up to 20% of the sum that clients have lost per month. Most often, this privilege is designed for regular visitors but there are also advantageous offers for newcomers.

The main benefits of the option:

• building a loyal audience;
• motivation of players to place more bets;
• minimisation of negative response to loss.

Key Trends in the Field of Bonuses

Among the most common tendencies, we can name:

1. Maximum personalisation. Operators are customising bonus campaigns more and more often to meet the individual needs of each client. For this purpose, they use behavioural analytics, the history of bids, preferences related to sports and types of bets, as well as other parameters. This increases the effectiveness of rewards, which can be received only by real gamblers.
2. Mobile applications. The modern bookmaker’s business is aimed at attracting mobile traffic, so most incentives are adapted for smartphones. Many entrepreneurs even provide additional bonuses to those players who installed a special app.
3. Integration with instant messengers. It is possible to reward users for activity on social networks, subscriptions, likes, and comments. As a rule, these are small amounts of money that show the bookmakers’ interest in their clients and subscribers.

Control Over the Accrual of Bonuses

Their incorrect distribution is one of the main problems that the betting business faces nowadays.

Hackers deceive operators and illegally appropriate BC funds. They use bots, disguise programs, and other fraudulent software to get benefits and quickly withdraw money to their bank accounts. As a result, the entrepreneurs’ assets are spent inefficiently, and their business loses profit.

Secrets of fighting against bonus hunting:

1. Acquisition of professional software. With its help, operators can filter out unscrupulous players at the verification stage and interact only with those who are honest. Program components instantly identify and block multi-accounts, attempts to hack the system, registration of bots, as well as other types of violations.
2. Analysis of advertising strategy. These are detailed statistics on key marketing expenses, including the cost of bonuses. It is important for bookmakers to understand which types of incentives bring the maximum effect, and in what areas money is wasted.
3. Setting high wagers. Entrepreneurs add them even for welcome rewards. This encourages users to place more bids on the website and makes it harder for their gifts to be stolen.

The Main Things about the Bonus System in Betting Shops

Key aspects that operators need to take into account:

• Business owners give part of the margin to clients to receive higher income in the future. Offering rewards is an excellent move, which helps improve the bookmaker’s position in the niche, as well as receive new solvent traffic and profitable B2B contacts.
• Bonuses are considered a legitimate marketing technique. Among legal options, there are cashback, Free Bet, Combo Boost, express incentives, and stake insurance. Most of them include a wagering requirement.
• Among the latest trends in this field, we can name maximum personalisation of the reward system, integration with instant messengers, and an emphasis on mobile betting applications.
• Accrual of bonuses requires end-to-end control. The best way to deal with this is to buy specialised security software. It is also worth considering the provision of higher wagers and analysing the chosen promotion strategy.

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