There’s no better time than the start of the football season for gamblers to feel valued.
This goes double in new markets like North Carolina, where the right promos may secure long-time customers.
Fanatics Sportsbook links this realization with a marketing and promotional push to spike nationwide market share, including in North Carolina.
The book greets North Carolina sports betting customers with a string of incentives in time for the Sept. 5 season opener between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens.
The book drives home a “thanks for playing” theme to patrons celebrating their first-ever legalized-wagering football season.
Here’s a look at the highlights.
$5 Million Jersey Drop among Fanatics offers
The Fanatics Sportsbook’s campaign launches with the $5 Million Jersey Drop. That means Jerseys will drop every day in customer accounts through September 9.
Any active Fanatics Sportsbook NC customer is eligible by opting in, with no wager required. Customers must log in each day to see if they are a winner, and can only win once.
The Fanatics book also has a potpourri of offers for first-time players. Check it out and see which offers make the most sense. Casino incentives (not applicable in North Carolina) and sportsbook bonus bets are good for 30 days after issuance.
There’s an excellent chance that the promo package will yield a financial stash bettors can use throughout the season. Customers, at this stage, carry enormous clout.
Much awaits new players who missed the fever-pitched March Madness incentives during the launch of NC sportsbooks. With the start of football season, expect NC sportsbook promos like these to ramp up across the betting market.
Fanatics app upgrades for football season
In addition to the bonus content, Fanatics unveils some smart, concrete product upgrades that will be useful long after the promotional period has passed.
You’ll find the following app upgrades:
- FanCash: The book just supercharged its loyalty and rewards program. Customers can earn up to 10% FanCash back on their bets, win or lose. The bigger the odds, the bigger the FanCash rewards to spend on jerseys, hats, Bonus Bets, and more.
- Betting & Streaming: Live betting while streaming games just became much easier. The book showcases a new data visualization that allows for easy navigation between games and the tracking of player and team stats.
- Fanatics Fair Play: This one is a huge benefit, both to novice and seasoned gamblers. If a professional football player you place a prop wager on gets injured in the first quarter (and doesn’t return), your bet will be refunded. That’s a major advance in the prop-betting world. It will encourage gamblers to be more free-wheeling in areas like yardage, touchdown, or reception requirements. The first quarter acts like a hedge.
- This is one of the best innovations across the prop-betting landscape and a potential public-relations coup. Sportsbooks have gained immeasurable goodwill whenever they have refunded patrons who suffered a bad beat via injury or a controversial call.
- Parlays: Fanatics offers an extensive menu and allows customers to cash out live to secure winnings before the game ends.
- Lightning Bets: How do you feel about action every minute? This feature allows gamblers to wager on the next play. What will be the result of that play? Will there be a first down on this drive? Can a team reach the 20-yard line?
- Rewards Surge: Starting Aug. 29, Fanatics Sportsbook will give away 100+ Profit Boosts across the first five weeks of the football season. Customers need to opt in.
Fanatics hoping to boost market share in North Carolina
The NC Lottery Commission, a regulator of the sports betting industry, does not release operator-specific data. However, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, industry analysts, have Fanatics holding only about 1.5% of the market since launch. That puts them one up from the bottom on the list of legal sportsbooks in the state.
With this being North Carolina’s first NFL season and Fanatics having a wide-reaching sports apparel company, a promo push during the start of football season could pay dividends. The daily jersey drop complements other promos and app upgrades, and Fanatics is banking on the idea that crossover clients will boost its sports betting revenue going into the biggest months on the betting calendar.
ESPN Bet, Fanatics’ closest competitor for market share, has held about 3% market share since launch. ESPN Bet won’t make it easy on Fanatics either. PENN Entertainment, the parent company of ESPN Bet, recently announced a slate of app upgrades for the ESPN Bet app ahead of football season.
Both Fanatics and ESPN Bet, relative newcomers to the US sports betting market, have a lot to prove this fall. Getting football season right is key to a US sportsbook’s success. Ultimately, this works in the bettor’s favor. Being plied with promo offers and app upgrades is always nice, especially when it’s tied to the most exciting time of the year to bet.
Image Credit: Jacob Kupferman / AP Images
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