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With the NBA season getting underway recently, FanDuel Sportsbook is offering a promotion for new users that includes a three-month trial of NBA League Pass, the NBA's streaming service for live, out-of-market games.

The current FanDuel promo also allows new users to earn $150 in bonus bets if they win their first bet on a wager of at least $5. There are several interesting NFL games to bet on in Week 10, including Broncos at Chiefs, 49ers at Buccaneers, Steelers at Commanders, and Eagles at Cowboys. 

This article will cover how this new FanDuel promo works and how new users can claim it by betting on the NFL in Week 10. It will also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the promo and how it compares to other sportsbook promotions.

Explaining the FanDuel promo

The FanDuel Sportsbook promotion includes two different rewards. First, it allows new users to get $150 in bonus bets. Second, it provides all new users with a three-month trial of NBA League Pass.

To get the $150 in bonus bets, a new user needs to win his or her first bet and must wager at least $5 on that bet. There are no minimum odds requirements for the first bet, so the only requirements are that the bet is at least $5 and that it wins. 

The requirement for the first bet to win makes this FanDuel promo slightly different from other similar "bet & get" style promotions. Frequently, "bet & get" promos award bonus bets instantly after a new user places a qualifying first wager, whether it wins or loses. For this promotion, however, bonus bets are only awarded if the qualifying wager wins. 

The lack of a minimum odds requirement does make picking a winning bet easier for a new user. 

When a bet has very short betting odds like -1000, that means that the bet is very likely to win (with -1000 odds, the implied probability of winning is over 90%). So new users can choose a bet with very short odds to maximize their chances of winning, and they will get the $150 in bonus bets as long as that qualifying wager wins. 

As with nearly all sportsbook promotions offering bonus bets, the bonus bets will expire seven days (or exactly 168 hours) after they are deposited in a user's account. As is also standard, the bonus bets cannot be transferred and their value cannot be withdrawn as cash. 

The bonus bets from this FanDuel promo can be used in smaller denominations to place multiple smaller bets, rather than using the full $150 on just one bet. Some other sportsbook promos offer one large bonus bet rather than multiple smaller bonus bets.

When a user wins a bet using bonus bets, he or she will receive the winnings from that bet, but will not receive the value of the original bet. For example, if a user wins a $25 bonus bet at +100 odds, then he or she will receive the $25 winnings from that bet as withdrawable cash. If the same bet were placed with $25 cash instead of bonus bets, then the user would receive a payout of $50, which includes the original $25 stake plus the $25 profit. 

The first step to claim this promotion is to click the "Claim Bonus" button anywhere on this page. That will direct the user to the FanDuel account registration page. It's important to click that button first to ensure that the promotion is linked to the new account. 

To sign up for FanDuel, new users will need to provide some personal information like their name, date of birth and the last four digits of their social security number. This promotion is only available to brand-new users, so the social security number is used to confirm that the user does not have an existing account. New users must be at least 21 years old and located in a state where FanDuel is licensed to operate, so they will also need to verify their age and location to ensure they meet those requirements. 

Once a new account is created, users need to deposit a minimum of $5 into their account using any of FanDuel's available payment methods, which include the most common options such as credit or debit cards, ACH, PayPal or Venmo. Then they can use that money to place their qualifying wager of at least $5, and if that bet wins, then the bonus bets will be deposited into their account within 72 hours.

FanDuel offers three months of NBA League Pass

While new users must win their qualifying wager to get the $150 in bonus bets, that is not required to receive the second benefit of this promotion, which is a three-month trial of NBA League Pass. 

New users still need to place a $5 qualifying wager to claim this part of the promotion, but whether that bet wins or loses, they will receive an NBA League Pass promo code via email within 72 hours of the bet settling (i.e. the sportsbook confirms the outcome of the bet and pays out the winnings, if applicable). That promo code can be used when creating a new subscription to NBA League Pass to activate the three-month free trial. The code must be used by Jan. 31, 2025.

Using that promo code requires creating a new NBA League Pass subscription, including providing payment information. That subscription will be automatically set to auto-renew at the regular price after the trial period ends. Users can cancel the subscription before the trial period ends if they do not want to pay the regular price after the first three months. 

NBA League Pass is the only way to watch live, out-of-market NBA games during the regular season. It includes all NBA games that are not broadcast by national networks or the local networks in each area. Local and national games will be blacked out on NBA League Pass. NBA fans who do not live in the same market as their favorite team may be interested in NBA League Pass as a way to watch their team's games, as would any fans who enjoy watching games across the league rather than just their local team. 

NBA League Pass also includes some other features like the ability to choose home or away broadcasts, select different viewing angles, or add a live stats overlay to the viewing screen. Subscribers can also watch 10-minute condensed game recaps on demand and they have 24/7 access to NBA coverage on NBATV.

FanDuel Sportsbook welcome promo: The good and the bad

There are various types of promotions in the online sports betting industry, and each one has different advantages and disadvantages. Some promotions are better for certain users than others, so let's dig into what is good and bad about this FanDuel promo.

On the positive side, the inclusion of the NBA League Pass subscription can be a very nice perk for new users. Some users might value this part of the promo more than the bonus bets, especially if they are NBA fans who are on the fence about subscribing. 

A basic subscription to NBA League Pass costs $16.99 per month, so the value of the three-month trial is $51. That's a nice value that most sportsbook promotions do not offer. Even if other promotions offer the equivalent value in bonus bets, those bonus bets might not yield the same $51 in winnings. If a user only gets bonus bets from the sign-up bonus and loses all of the bonus bets, they ultimately get no value from the promotion besides the entertainment value from following their bet(s). The NBA League Pass subscription offers a guaranteed value. 

It's also nice that the trial subscription lasts for three full months, which is about half of the NBA regular season. NBA League Pass offers its own trial period, but that only lasts for seven days, which is not very much time for a user to test out the service and decide if it's worth keeping. Getting three months free provides users with a more sufficient amount of time to evaluate the service. 

Another advantage of this promo is that it only requires a $5 bet to qualify. Some other sportsbook promotions require making a large first bet (as much as $1,500) to get the maximum value from the offer, so this promotion will be much better for any users who do not want to place such a large first wager. 

While it's always better when a sportsbook promotion offers bonus bets whether the first bet wins or loses, the lack of a minimum odds requirement for the qualifying wager makes it more acceptable that this promo requires the first bet to win. New users should be able to pick a winning bet with short odds to earn those $150 in bonus bets. 

Of course, even a bet with very short odds is not guaranteed to win, so the winning first bet requirement is still a disadvantage of this promo. It is somewhat uncommon for a "bet & get" style promotion since this type of promo usually awards the bonus bets regardless of the outcome of the qualifying wager. Some users may not even think about looking for a bet with very short odds just to qualify for the promotion, since those bets are usually not very popular, and they may even be hard to find. 

Some users may view the $150 in bonus bets offered by this promotion as another disadvantage compared to other sportsbook promos. As discussed further in the next section comparing different sportsbook promotions, most "bet & get" style promotions offer $200 in bonus bets, while some "first bet insurance" promotions offer up to $1,500 in bonus bets. Users who value bonus bets more than something like the NBA League Pass subscription may find this FanDuel promo to be less valuable for them.

Finally, since the NBA League Pass subscription is the real differentiator for this promo, it would have been better if the trial included the premium version and not just the base plan. The premium version allows concurrent streaming on up to three devices and includes the ability to download games to watch offline. Perhaps more importantly for some users, it eliminates commercials and instead shows the entertainment inside the arena during commercial breaks and halftime. 

The NBA website says that the premium subscription is more popular despite the higher price point ($24.99 per month). If they wanted to attract new subscribers (beyond the trial period) through this promotion, then it would have been better to make their most popular service available in this promo.

FanDuel promo comparison: Which promos are better than FanDuel?

Among the top online sportsbooks, the "first bet insurance" style of promotion is currently more common than the "bet & get" style of promotion that FanDuel currently offers. BetMGM, Caesars, and Fanatics all offer "first bet insurance" promos with differing structures and values, while DraftKings offers a "bet & get" promotion worth up to $50 more in bonus bets compared to FanDuel's offer. Bet365 offers both options for new users and each one has dollar values similar to the rest of the industry. 

The table below lists all of the current welcome offers from those six top online sportsbooks, with a more in-depth comparison to follow. 

SportsbookPromo

FanDuel

Win a $5 bet, get $150 in bonus bets, plus three months of NBA League Pass

DraftKings

Bet $5, get $200 in bonus bets instantly

Fanatics

Bet up to $100 per day for the first 10 days to get up to $1,000 in no sweat bets

BetMGM

Get up to $1,500 back in bonus bets if first bet loses

Caesars

Get up to $1,000 back as one bonus bet if first bet loses

bet365

Bet $5, get $200 in bonus bets OR a first bet safety net up to $1,000

One of these things is not like the others, and that is the NBA League Pass trial that FanDuel is offering. That will not be very important or valuable to some users, and as a result, this promo might not be as appealing to them as other sportsbooks' offerings. For other users, the NBA League Pass trial could make the FanDuel promo more appealing than any other offer, regardless of any other factors.

When it comes to comparing the bonus bets in the different offers, it's important to compare apples to apples. Because of the way they are structured, the "first bet insurance" promos offer a much higher dollar value in bonus bets than the "bet & get" promos offer, so the dollar values in each promo should only be compared to other promos of the same type. Prospective users should also evaluate which style of promo works better for them. 

The "bet & get" promos provide bonus bets if the qualifying wager wins (like FanDuel), or just for placing the first wager. As the name implies, the "first bet insurance" promos provide bonus bets if the first bet loses, which is why they tend to offer much higher values. Some sportsbooks may use the term "no sweat bets" to refer to bets that get returned as bonus bets if they lose. bet365 calls it a "first bet safety net." 

New users can fall into a trap with "first bet insurance" promos if they don't understand how bonus bets work. Getting bonus bets is not the same thing as getting your money back when a bet loses. Bonus bets cannot be withdrawn as cash. They must be used to try to win a new bet, and in many cases, the winnings from that bet (if it wins) are not enough to cover the losses of the original bet. 

For example, consider a new user who loses a $100 bet, and then wins a $100 bonus bet at -110 odds. Since bonus bets only pay out the winnings, but not the original stake, that user would receive $90.91 for winning their bonus bet, and they would be down $9.09 from their original $100 bet. To get back the full $100, they would need to use the bonus bet to win a bet with odds of +100 or longer, which implies at best a 50% chance of winning.

Compare that to a user who claims a "bet & get" promo and gets $200 in bonus bets after losing a $5 bet. Already it's apparent that they are in a better situation because they only lost $5 but now have 40 times that amount to wager. They decide to use that $200 in bonus bets on a bet with lower odds, like -200, since that gives them an implied 66.67% chance of winning. The bet hits and they win $100 in withdrawable cash. They have now profited $95.

That comparison shows the big difference between the "bet & get" style of promos and the "first bet insurance" promos. To take that comparison one step further, if both bettors in those examples had lost their bonus bets, then the first bettor would be down $100, while the second bettor would be down $5. If the first bettor had bet the maximum $1,000 or $1,500 that some sportsbooks make available as "insurance," then they could be down a more significant amount.

While that comparison may steer some prospective users towards the "bet & get" promos, plenty of users like the "first bet insurance" promo because it gives them the ability to place a large first wager and potentially win close to double their money. It's easier for them to do that if they know they have a chance to win at least some of it back, but that only makes sense if they are willing to potentially lose the whole amount. For new users who are not comfortable with that possibility, the "bet & get" promos are a better option.

Compared to the "bet & get" promos from DraftKings and bet365, FanDuel offers $50 less in bonus bets. DraftKings and bet365 also offer those bonus bets whether the first bet wins or loses. For that reason, prospective users who value the bonus bets more than the NBA League Pass subscription may prefer the offers from DraftKings and bet365. With the NBA League Pass subscription valued at $51, the total value of the FanDuel offer is about the same as those other offers, and users who value that subscription may find that offer to be the best on the market for them. 

What can you bet on with FanDuel?

As one of the leaders in the sports betting industry, FanDuel offers one of the largest selections of betting options in the market. They have all the most popular markets like the NFL, NBA, MLB, EPL, college football and college basketball. They also have several less common sports like cricket, darts and handball. In terms of betting types, they offer all the standard bets like the point spread or over/under as well as a seemingly endless variety of prop bets

Betting on the NFL is still the biggest market for sportsbooks, and Week 10 offers plenty of intriguing matchups on which to bet. In the early window on Sunday, one of the top matchups is the Steelers (6-2) at the Commanders (7-2). Both teams are currently in first place in their divisions and just made trades to fortify their rosters for a playoff push. The Commanders acquired Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, while the Steelers acquired Jets wide receiver Mike Williams and Packers edge rusher Preston Smith. Those players may not make an immediate impact this week (if they even play), but this should still be an interesting and competitive matchup. 


MoneylinePoint SpreadOver/Under

Pittsburgh Steelers

+138

+3 (-114)

Over 45.5 (-110)

Washington Commanders

-164

-3 (-106)

Under 45.5 (-110)

In what could be a big divisional matchup, the Denver Broncos (5-4) visit the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs (8-0). The Chiefs are trying to match the best start in franchise history at 9-0, which they last did in Andy Reid's first season in 2013. This will be Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix's first career matchup against the division rival he will face twice a year to start his career. The Broncos may not have much of a chance to catch the Chiefs in the AFC West, but they are in wild card position in the AFC Standings at the halfway point of the season. The Chiefs are big favorites, but divisional games are always tough, and the Broncos won the last game these teams played. 


MoneylinePoint SpreadOver/Under

Denver Broncos

+320

+8.5 (-110)

Over 41.5 (-110)

Kansas City Chiefs

-420

-8.5 (-110)

Under 41.5 (-110)

The highlight of the late afternoon games is one of the NFL's biggest rivalry games: Eagles vs. Cowboys. This game lost some of its luster last week thanks to the injuries to Cowboys QB Dak Prescott (hamstring) and WR CeeDee Lamb (shoulder). While Lamb is expected to be available for this game, Prescott has been placed on IR, leaving backup Cooper Rush to keep the Cowboys afloat for at least the next four games. The Eagles are riding a three-game win streak and are looking to keep up with the division-leading Washington Commanders before a huge game against them next week on Thursday Night Football. 


MoneylinePoint SpreadOver/Under

Philadelphia Eagles

-360

-7 (-115)

Over 41.5 (-115)

Dallas Cowboys

+290

+7 (-105)

Under 41.5 (-105)

FanDuel responsible gaming

Sports betting can be an exciting experience, but every user should set boundaries and gamble responsibly within his or her means. FanDuel is dedicated to promoting responsible gambling on its platform and provides tools to users who may be struggling.

Users can create both spending and time limits for using FanDuel, and they can opt to receive regular check-ins and activity statements to help keep track of the wagers they've made and ensure nothing gets overlooked.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, please seek assistance from trained professionals such as the Problem Gambling Help Network at 1-800-GAMBLER.