North Carolina sports betting is less than two weeks old, and the launch couldn’t have come at a better time.
Most of the eight live sportsbooks in NC are giving away a few hundred dollars in bonus bets (which are like a site credit) with a small deposit and first bet. So with 50 men’s NCAA Tournament games on tap in the next four days, plus the women’s tournament, the NIT and a bunch of other sports, your promos will be well-suited.
In my opinion, this is a much better time to get a buncꦉh of bonus bets than the NFL playoffs or Super Bowl. Those are great betting events, but the volume of games makes this an even better time.
The 8 best North Carolina sportsbook promos
| NC Sportsbook | Welcome Offer | Actual Estimated Value* |
| 1. Fanatics Sportsbook | Bet $20, get $200 or $1,000 bet match | $545 |
| 2. Underdog Sports NC | $1,000 first bet mulligan | $400 |
| 3. bet365 North Carolina | $200 bonus bets or $1,000 first bet insurance | $400 |
| 4. ESPN BET NC | Bet anything, get $225 + $500 max deposit match (now 10% cashback rate) | $408* |
| 5. DraftKings North Carolina | Bet $5, get $250 | $150 |
| 6. FanDuel North Carolina | Bet $5, get $250 | $150 |
| 7. Caesars NC | Bet $10, get $250 | $150 |
| 8. BetMGM NC | Bet $5, get $150 | $90 |
1. Fanatics Sportsbook Promo: Bet $20, get $200 or $1,000 bet match
Fanatics Sportsbook has a choice of offers available in all states now, including North Caroli🔯na.
- Bet $20, get $200 FanCash (which can be used as bonus bets or for merch in the Fanatics store)
- $100 bet match for 10 days, totaling $1,000 potential FanCash: For your first 10 days on the platform, your first bet of the day will be matched in FanCash, up to $100. So if you place a $100 bet as your first bet on Day 1, you’ll get $100, if you place a $25 bet, you’ll get $25.
The bet match is of co𒁃urse higher value, if you bet the max $100 eac🍸h day and stick with it for all 10 days. As we detailed above, we estimate this offer at about $545 in cash if you max it out.
Even if you go 5-5 on those $100 bets, you’ll lose about $55 in cash, but you’ll have $1,000 in bonus bets. And if you turn those bonus bets into cash at a 60% rate, you’ll have a little over $550 in cash at the end.
2. Underdog Promo: $1,000 mulligan on your first bet
As we detailed above, if you max out a $1,000 insurance bet and hedge it against another book, it’s worth about $400 in cash. We don’t necessarily recommend that, but I think it’s a fair way to measure the value.
3. bet365: $200 or $1,000 first bet insurance
bet365 offers a choice between two sign-up bonuses in all states, including North Carolina. Use bet365 bonus code NYPNEWS and select either a $1,000 first bet safety net or grab the𒈔 b🥂et $5, get $200 offer.
- The $1,000 first bet safety net refunds you in bonus bets equal to what you lost, if your first bet loses.
- The bet get gives you $200 after a $5 wager (just make sure your first bet is at odds of -500 or longer, meaning -400 is OK but -600 is not).
As we’ve covered above, the $1,000 first bet if you max it out can be worth about $400 in cash over a large sample. So if plan on maxing it out, take the insurance, but if you just want some bonus bets, take the $200.
4. ESPN BET Promo Code: Get $225 and $500 deposit match
ESPN BETﷺ has💜 two parts to its offer, and the true value has increased
- Use ESPN BET promo code to get $225 in bonus bets after any cash waer.
- No matter what, you’ll also get up to with your first deposit. Whatever you put in, you’ll get 200% extra, up to $500.
The cashback unlocks slowly, 10% at a time, and you only have 30 days to unlock it all. We estimate the deposit match is worth more like $222, because you’ll slowly lose juice as you bet against the wagering requirement. That’s up significantly with the now 10% cashback rate; it had been 5% last week.
5. FanDuel Promo: Bet $5, get $250
FanDuel’s offer is simple — just deposit $10, bet $5, and you’ll get $250 in bonus bets.
There’s no promo code needed to claim this offer.
6. DraftKings: Bet $5, get $250
For new users, DraftKings offers the💙 same deal as FanDuel: bet $5 and get $25ﷺ0 in bonus bets.
7. Caesars Sportsbook Promo Code: Bet $10, get $250
With promo code , you’ll get five, $50 bonus bets after just a $10 wager. Make sure your first bet is $10+, or else you’ll forfeit the offer.
8. BetMGM Promo Code: $150 bonus bets
BetMGM bonus code NYPNEWS will earn yo🍌u $150 in bonus bets after a $5 wag💛er.
Those bonus bets come back in six increments of $25, and you’ll have seven days to use them.
Estimating the true maximum cash value of these offers
Sportsbooks often promise big bonuses t🐻hrough first bet insurance offers or deposit matches, but what are they actuไally worth?
Bonus bets: If you optimize your bonus bets by betting plus-money underdogs in the +300 to +500 range, over the long run you’ll convert about 60-70% of your bonus bets into cash. So $200 in bonus bets can be worth ~$130. Most people won’t use bonus bets optimally, however, so sportsbooks only pay out about 30% of all bonus bets. So $200 in bonus bets costs them about $60.
Insurance: These first bet offers are tricky to value — if you make a $1,000 first bet at +250 and it wins, you’ve won $2,500. If your first bet loses, then your ensuing bonus bets lose, you can be left with $0.
There is a hedging method that will lock in about $400 from a $1,000 first bet. It’s a big investment, since you need to bet more than $4,000 on the opposite side of your $1,000 first bet, so most people won’t do it. But I think it’s fair to call the cash value about 40% of the insurance amount.
Deposit match: Most deposit matches come with a rollover or play-through requirement. This means that you can’t just deposit, get a match, and then immediately withdraw.
Some matches have bigger rollovers than others. We estimate the value to be the max offered, minus the money you’d lose if you hit 50% of your bets reaching the rollover requirement, assuming those bets are all -110.
Take the ESPN BET deposit match. Say you max it out by depositing $250 and get $500 in Eligible Cashback. It comes with a 10x rollover, meaning you must wager $5,000 total ($50💎0 x 10) over your first 30 days to get the full match.
If you made 50, $100 wagers all at -110 and went 25-25, you’d lose about $227 in cash making those bets on average, but you’d earn the $500. So the deposit match, by this estimation anyway, is really only worth about $273. With ESPN BET, at least you are getting actual cash and not bonus bets.
Bet match: Similar✱ to the deposit match, think 🍨about what it would cost you to earn the max match, and assume your bets hit at 50% rate.
If you make 10, $100 bets at Fanatics and go 5-5, you’ll lose about $55 in cash. But you’ll get $1,000 in bonus bets. It’s no guarantee you go 5-5, but that’s what we’ll use as an estimate.
Assuming you turn your bonus bets into 60% cash, you’ll earn $600, minus the $55 you lost, for $545 cash.