Most of the promotions and bonuses that are offered by sportsbooks will come when you first join them to help maintain your interest in betting with them moving forward. These are usually referred to as signup bonuses or welcome promotions and while they vary in size and requirements from site to site, they pretty much always offer the bettor a ton of value.
Basically, what the marketers are doing for these sportsbooks with these signup bonuses is giving newcomers a chance to bet with them with reduced financial risk. It’s hard to differentiate for many newer sites, so they use these tactics to lure newcomers to try out their betting services, which will hopefully lead to repeat business for them.
Signup bonuses are generally some of the simplest types of bonuses and promotions offered up by sportsbooks. They usually take the form of either a free bet where the punter can make a wager without any risk, or bonus cash where the sportsbook matches your initial deposit up to a certain amount.
Free bets are usually more attractive for beginners and casual bettors because of the lack of financial commitment, but sharps and more experienced bettors will almost always spring for the sportsbook with the bonus cash offer because they can choose which markets they want to use the bonus cash on with more freedom.