- ESPN launched their betting app on November 14 and there are some very unique features bettors will love
- On top of some unique bonuses, ESPN Bet also features one unique betting market that no one else has
- Find out how ESPN Bet differs from competition to determine whether you should sign up
After much anticipation, ESPN Bet launched on Tuesday, November 14 and people were excited! The ESPN Bet app was the top downloaded app in the App Store. It’s no surprise that users had so much trust in their most trusted sports brand to also put forth a sports betting app worth downloading.
After having some time to play around in the new ESPN betting app, and listening to / reading many ESPN Bet user reviews and comments, I wanted to put together a quick list of what I feel are the best and most unique parts/features of the sportsbook. There are three things that stand out to me so far:
- ESPN Bet has some unique betting markets that are not available anywhere else,
- It’s a really strong user experience in the app, and
- Their bonus mechanics are different from most other sportsbooks.
I’ll dive into each one of those a little further below:
Unique Betting Options at ESPN’s Sportsbook
One of the most common general complaints from NFL bettors comes around the anytime touchdown prop. It’s a very popular prop, however, many bettors (myself included) dislike that no sports betting app has allowed you to bet “no” prior to Tuesday.
Here we were, stuck dealing with however short sportsbooks wanted to move Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, or even Derrick Henry’s odds to score a touchdown, because they didn’t allow us to hold them accountable by betting the other side. They could get away with moving the line however short they wanted and there were no repercussions. Not anymore, thanks to ESPN Bet.
As you see in the image above, you can bet a player to not score a touchdown in any NFL game. Sure, there’s a little bit more juice on this prop, but it’s a huge step in the right direction for the industry because it is so rare! Simply put, ESPN Bet is being fair with their bettors here.
So, if ESPN Bet starts taking too much money on someone like CMC to score a touchdown, and they decide to shorten his odds significantly to slow the action, they’ll lengthen his odds to not score a touchdown in turn, potentially opening up a valuable play on the other (no) side. It’s magical.
The fun doesn’t stop there, though. You can also use the no-touchdown in their Parlay+ feature. Yes, I am talking about a no-touchdown parlay! As you may have noticed above, ESPN Bet is not only offering this prop on star players, but also the players who don’t see nearly as much usage. You can load up to ten players into a no-touchdown parlay.
If this is something that interests you, be sure to follow us on X, as we will be taking advantage of the unique prop at ESPN Bet by sharing our no-touchdown parlay picks for all primetime games, and might even dive into a multi-game no-touchdown parlay for the early slate on Sundays.
One thing to be careful of when loading up a no-touchdown parlay: ESPN Bet voids the entire parlay if one leg is voided. So, before you go and throw a bunch of lesser known players in your parlay, be sure they’re going to suit up first.
PS – you can also bet the “no” side of first touchdown scorers and NBA first basket scorers. Unfortunately, you are not able to parlay these like you can the no with anytime touchdowns.
Good User Experience in ESPN Bet App
I’m not here to defame any other sportsbook, so I will not name any names. But we have all experienced other sports betting apps that are not very responsive to your touch, contain very small buttons you are supposed to interact with, are slow to load, and/or are feature clunky swiping options. It can be very frustrating.
Thankfully, ESPN Bet does not suffer from any of those traits. All buttons are appropriately sized and work quickly when interacted with. All swiping features feel nice and smooth and the app is just generally easy to use. Even if you haven’t used a sports betting app before, ESPN Bet is simple enough to pick up on quickly.
This is a major relief for users who spend a decent amount of time in their betting app. There are few things worse in the sports betting world than trying to lock a bet in quickly, but getting stalled / slowed up by a bad user interface/experience.
I do understand some early users have been a little confused/disappointed by the lack of ESPN feel in the betting app so far, but that will change. They are going to continue adding more of their personalities and integrations with their sports media app.
Different Bonus Mechanics at ESPN Bet
I know the $1,000 “deposit match” offer for new users has been one of the more common complaints with ESPN Bet so far, and I’m not here to say you’re wrong for disliking it.
I understand a 20x playthrough on a $1,000 bonus that has to be achieved within 30 days is not ideal for most bettors, specifically any casual bettor. We haven’t even seen the playthrough offer mechanic much at all since back in the … never … and when we have seen it in the US, it has not had such strict conditions to be met. So, to be clear, I am not trying to convince you to accept that offer or like it.
(Besides, the better new user promo is our bet anything, get $250 in bonus bets. You can lock this in by using our ESPN Bet promo code DIME.)
But hear me out …
I suspect this slow release / playthrough bonus mechanic might not be a one-time thing with ESPN Bet, which would be good if it’s served as an all-user bonus where no extra money needs to be deposited to receive the bonus funds. If they took the cashback rate from 5% and maybe moved it up to 10%, it would also make a significant difference – instead of a 20x playthrough, just a 10x. Of course, they’re not going to provide these conditions on a $1,000 bonus, but maybe a much more reasonable $25-50?
What I’m saying is, if given the right conditions, this could be a very valuable bonus. I know we all (myself included) love a good 20-50% profit boost on a bet of our choice, but a bonus like the above would be loved as well after users got to see it in action. This type of cashback bonus would of course be more beneficial for users betting larger sums at a time. If that’s not you, be sure you exercise responsible gaming habits by not allowing this type of bonus to either increase the number of bets or the amount of money risked that you are comfortable with.
But there is no doubt a smaller, less strict playthrough bonus for all users would be both unique and valuable to all.
The post The Most Unique Features of ESPN Bet: 3 Reasons Bettors Will Love ESPN’s Sportsbook appeared first on Sports Betting Dime.
