Bears vs. Packers Marks First Online NFL Betting in PA
This is a big deal. The Packers-Bears game tonight marks the first time you can legally bet on (regular season) NFL football online in Pennsylvania.
Breathe it in. Taste it. And then bet on it.
Read our full Packers vs. Bears betting preview.
PA is one of the biggest potential betting markets in the country, with two major sports cities and a major college football town. It has taken over 12 months to get here, but tonight, PA online sportsbooks will take their first action ever on NFL games.
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Three Ways To Play
iOS
The biggest platform in terms of number of bettors, iPhones and iPads will take a majority of the bets on the Packers and Bears in PA tonight. There are three operators that offer an app, and two that only allow mobile web betting on Apple’s platform.
Apps: FanDuel Sportsbook PA, FOX Bet, Parx
Each of these operators have a native iOS app. We recommend FanDuel Sportsbook. It is the best of the bunch and features a $500 risk-free bet if you sign up here and then download the app.
FOX Bet looks promising, but it remains in soft launch.
And Parx has a quirky user interface.
Mobile web: SugarHouse Sportsbook, BetRivers
Both are owned by Rush Street Interactive, which is having trouble getting their apps approved due to a recent Apple App Store policy update that requires apps to be coded natively for iOS. Both SugarHouse and Rivers are HTML ports of their website. Though they do offer a mobile-web workaround.
Android
All PA sportsbooks are available on Android as a direct download.
Desktop
Each of these can be played through your browser, though it does require you to download a third-party geolocation tool to confirm your location. Though this is standard for all legal sportsbooks, PA and elsewhere.
NFL Pick ‘Em
Unique to the PA betting market is SugarHouse’s NFL Pick ‘Em contest, which is accepting new players through Sunday.
Popular in Las Vegas, where the Westgate SuperContest attracts thousands of players, users pick games on Sundays and Mondays throughout the NFL season. SugarHouse is offering $500k in guaranteed prizes with no vig, meaning all entires fees go back to users. The top 500 places will be paid.
Having Pennsylvania’s only Pick ‘Em contest makes up for the lack of an iOS app for SugarHouse.
You can sign up for it here.
A Competitive Market
Expected to join the fray shortly are the aforementioned FOX Bet, which is expected to go into a full launch tomorrow, just in time for the NFL on FOX this Sunday. The app is already available in New Jersey.
DraftKings Sportsbook is expected to enter the PA market later this month or in October once they are licensed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
The race is on to see which betting sites can get the most new players in the early going. And it will all start with the Bears-Packers game.