Interest in US-based sports in the UK has never been higher. Thanks to the internet, up-to-the-minute information about all the big leagues in the USA – the NFL, the NBA, MLB and the NHL – has never been so readily available, plus there are various streaming services such as MLB.TV and NFL Game Pass that allow fans of US-based sports to watch the action live. In addition, both Sky and the UK’s terrestrial TV stations provide more coverage of US-based sports than ever before.
It’s very easy to surmise that American football, basketball, baseball and (ice) hockey have never been so popular in the UK than they are now – and because sports fans in the UK love to wager on markets such as football, horse racing, tennis and golf, it perfectly stands to reason that those UK sports fans whom enjoy US-based sports would love to wager on their favourite pastimes too.
One of the keys to being a successful sports punter is to make sure you take advantage of any of the latest betting site promotions that the leading sports books have to offer. There are several types of promos and bonuses that online bookmakers offer their customers – both new and existing – which helps punters stretch the money they have available for wagering just a little bit further.
For example, nearly every online bookmaker will offer new players what is known as a ‘welcome bonus’ – this is a special deal that is only available for users whom have never used an individual online sports book before.
A typical deal is a free bet. To trigger the award of a free bet, you have to usually make a bet first using your own cash. For example, a ‘bet £10, get £10 free bet’ offer is exactly how it sounds – if you complete your registration with the online sports book and place a £10 bet using your own money then once that bet has been settled you will receive a £10 free bet to use.
This type of deal is a hugely beneficial one, but you need to be aware that your ‘£10 free bet’ in this case does not account to free money – you certainly cannot cash it out, and you can only use it for betting. Additionally, when it comes to settling up your free bet you will only receive back any winnings you make from it, not the free bet stake itself. This seems largely to be a universal rule across all online sports books.
Other promotions are often available and sometimes sites will have promotions especially arranged for big US sporting events, such as the Super Bowl, the NBA finals, the World Series and the Stanley Cup. When these events are on it is likely to really be worth your while to review as many of the big sports books as you can in order to find any special promotions that might be available.
As always, with any form of gambling, make sure you gamble responsibly, and never bet with money that you cannot afford to lose.
