Quickness, convenience key themes as US wagering platforms roll out upgrades for start of football season

The NFL season kicks off on Thursday (5 September) when the Baltimore Ravens play at the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The first full Sunday of games is 8 September. College football season had its first full Saturday of games on 31 August.

The SEC on ABC debuted with three games and average viewership of 7.6 million. The triple-header was the second-highest rated college football kickoff Saturday in ABC history, according to AwfulAnnouncing. And Sunday’s USC-LSU game drew 9.2 million viewers, including 11.1 million at the peak.

Football season in the US is a key period for customer acquisition. Sportsbooks are running myriad promotions to draw new customers but, in addition, many are offering new features to keep customers once they log in or download an app.

Here’s a look at some of the upgraded and new features that are available now that football season is upon us:

BetMGM

The legacy casino company is hoping to up its sports betting game with multiple upgrades to its platform, which is available in 29 states. According to a BetMGM press release, the platform will debut a more “streamlined” wagering experience and an upgraded bet slip ahead of the NFL season.

BetMGM players will be able to build parlays anywhere on the app and track their bets in real-time. The new bet slip will allow bettors to see all betting choices in one place and place multiple bets at the same time. BetMGM is also expanding its betting markets. Per the press release BetMGM offers “nearly 1,000” futures markets and offers 450 ways to bet on a pro football game.

In August, BetMGM became the first mobile platform live in Nevada to offer a single digital wallet. Companies including DraftKings and FanDuel have offered a traveling digital wallet so bettors can log in in any state where the companies are live and access their wallets. Neither of the wagering giants are live in Nevada, which could create a unique customer-acquisition tool for BetMGM.

Betr

Known for its microbetting product, Betr launched ‘Betr Picks’, a fantasy product, about a year ago. Ahead of football season, it added a new feature called ‘group mode’ that allows two or more players to go head-to-head.

On the more traditional sportsbook side, Betr is introducing parlays, same-game parlays, player prop bets, futures and more. The parlays and same-game parlays will be available ahead of the start of a game as well as in-game. The platform also now has other more traditional betting options, including moneyline and spread options.

“We think there’s going to be a second wave of businesses where the companies who have innovated in fantasy sports better are going to be significantly better positioned than other sportsbook operators that may have ignored fantasy as a category,” Betr CEO and co-founder Joey Levy told the Action Network. “We’re going to have a customer base spanning the country that will ultimately be able to cross over into the sportsbook business.”

Betr Sportsbook is live in Ohio and Virginia, where it will celebrate its one-year anniversary on 6 September. The site was also live in Massachusetts, but withdrew from the state in February. Betr Picks is available in 30+ US markets.

When Betr Picks launches in Virginia, consumers there will be able to toggle between sites, according to Action Network.

Caesars Sportsbook

Ceasars Sportsbook made a key move during the football off-season, acquiring ZeroFlucs, which allows it to offer more markets and more in each market, as well as thousands of same-game parlays, a company spokesman said. Customers will also find more flexibility when building parlays.

Caesars made other upgrades, as well. Consumers now have access to an improved cash-out functionality, a more friendly user interface, quicker payouts and in-app livestreaming of NFL games. The spokesman said this will allow fans to “place live bets during NFL games while watching the action unfold live on the Caesars Sportsbook app”.

Caesars Sportsbook customers can earn Caesars Rewards and now can find credit multipliers for local reward in the app and can take advantage of special bonuses.

DraftKings

The second-biggest US operator by market share, DraftKings recently announced a deal with Simplebet that will make the platform faster and allow for a “more robust, in-game wagering experience” for customers, a spokesperson said. Besides that, DraftKings is increasing the number of markets available. In particular, it is introducing “Weekly Player Fantasy Points Leader.” This market draws on the company’s original business as a daily fantasy provider.

DraftKings recently launched in-house player props for all the US professional leagues plus college football, college basketball and tennis. It also expanded parlay offerings to include spreads, totals, and player props.

In terms of functionality, customers will see a new cash-out feature and the company has “automated the promotion of real-time trending bets.” In addition, it has added live scores and wagering stats.

Though not live yet, DraftKings is planning to use NFL streaming to integrate a bet-and-watch experience.

Fanatics Sportsbook

Just about one year into its broad foray into sports betting, Fanatics Sportsbook is honouring existing customers with its ‘Jersey Drop’ promotion, but consumers will also find upgrades on the platform. Fanatics was only available in a handful of legal wagering states at this time last year, but is now available digitally in 20.

Ahead of the football season, Fanatics’ plan was to improve the app, and the company “supercharged” its data visualisation and streaming functionalities for the NFL. According to a company spokesman, pictures are crisper and, in the the case of the data visualisation, faster. Fanatics Sportsbooks is also offering 250 times the number of betting markets that it did last football season.

Fanatics expanded its ‘Fair Program’ to include the NFL. If an NFL player goes out in the first quarter, Fanatics will return the prop wager to the consumer.

FanDuel

The biggest wagering operator by market share in the US, FanDuel, is introducing some new products alongside a promotion and new marketing campaign.

According to a company press release, FanDuel is expanding its offerings and made it quicker to place some in-play bets. FanDuel is expanding available bets in its Same Game Parlay product, including player-quarter props and defensive props. It has also upgraded the user interface on its ‘quick bets’ tab, to make it faster and easier to place in-play wagers on short-duration bets.

FanDuel also upgraded its player pages making it easier to find information, including performance trends. Bettors are now also able to find information and place prop bets in one location.

ESPN Bet

According to a company spokesman, Penn Entertainment’s ESPN Bet has a bevy of upgrades, ranging from better functionality in some spots to a bigger selection of bets. In particular, customers on ESPN Bet will find improved functionality on the parlay carousel, in addition to a “dedicated parlay lounge”. ESPN Bet has also expanded its offering for same-game parlays and profit boosts.

In addition, the platform now has ‘Dark Mode’, early win payouts and a referral programme.

On top of the upgrades and new features on the wagering platforms, ESPN is expanding ESPN Bet integrations, including “deep-linked markets and personalised in-play betting offers”. Penn also has plans to roll out a new account-linking feature that will allow more personalised opportunities on the platform “based on a user’s ESPN Fantasy Team and ESPN favourites”.