Barstool Sportsbook is now live in Pennsylvania and Michigan. It will eventually be available in several states that offer online sports betting.
Barstool Sportsbook’s promo code offers new users a $1,000 risk free bet. It is fairly standard fare among online betting apps.
| Barstool Sportsbook | Promo Code Offer |
|---|---|
| Signup Bonus For Barstool Sportsbook | $1,000 risk-free bet |
| How To Sign Up | Players can download the Barstool Sportsbook app from the iOS App Store or on Android |
| Promo Code | NOT AVAILABLE |
| States Available | PA, MI |
Alternatives To Barstool Sportsbook
We think the best alternative to Barstool Sportsbook is FOX Bet. It offers the same personality-driven experience with more varied bets, odds boosts and league integration. It’s also an official Eagles partner. The custom bets and odds boosts are a huge differentiating factor.
For everyone else in states where Barstool Sportsbook isn’t yet available, you should download DraftKings Sportsbook. It’s the overall best sports betting app– and it’s not even close.
Barstool Sportsbook Promotions
Here are the most current promotions in Barstool’s betting app as of May, 2021:
- Listed Pitcher Insurance
- Welcome Bonus
- First Time Deposit Bonus
- Barstool Power Hour
- Customization Bonus
Listed Pitcher Insurance
Barstool touts this as “wager worry-free on MLB games.” You get 100% bet insurance to protect your wager against listed pitcher changes that take place prior to first pitch. There’s no cap.
Welcome Bonus
$10 cash bonus with no deposit.
First Time Deposit Bonus
The First Time Deposit Bonus offers new Barstool Sportsbook players a true, 100% risk-free bet up to $500 on your first eligible wager following your first deposit.
Barstool Power Hour
This is Barstool’s best promotion. #ReduceTheJuice with Barstool Power Hour. Bettors can enjoy bettor-friendly discounts on standard odds across selected matchups. Check back daily, as a new Barstool Power Hour will be live from 5PM-6PM EST every weekday.
Customization Bonus
Players get a $5 bonus by updating the “Betting Favorites” section in your account preferences.”
Barstool Sportsbook Launch Date
Barstool Sportsbook officially launched on September 18, going live in Pennsylvania. It will eventually be available in all states where Penn National has approved online sports betting licenses– including New York.
Thanks to a recent 36% acquisition of the popular Barstool Sports brand by sports leading casino operator Penn National Gaming, Barstool Sportsbook is expected to soon launch in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Colorado.
Additionally, Barstool Sportsbook and other Barstool-related brands, such as “One Bite” pizza and others will have a presence on Penn National Gaming properties.
Types of Promos Barstool Offers
Barstool Sportsbook currently offers two types of signup bonuses, and then a series of ongoing promos.
Risk-Free Bets
Barstool’s $500 risk free bet compares favorably to other betting apps.
Other top legal online sportsbooks use offer bettors big risk-free bets up to $1,000 at sign up. Typically, such sportsbooks will match a user’s first bet up to a certain amount and refund losing wagers in the form of site credit. Some sites require a rather high play-through requirement, meaning the site credit must risked (possibly multiple times) in order to make a withdraw. While some sites will simply release the credit all at once, others will release smaller amounts for the user to play over multiple bets.
Risk-free bets aren’t limited to just new users as many sportsbooks will offer risk-free plays as an incentive for users to make a certain number of wagers or place bets on specific sporting events.
We could imagine Barstool, in leveraging its personalities, may offer risk-free bets that allow you to wager on action presented by the likes of El Pres, Big Cat, KFC, and others, and then refund the bet if it loses. FOX Bet does this with Cousin Cal.
Odds Boosts
Almost every prominent legal online sports betting site offers odds boosts, but Barstool Sportsbook took a page out of FOX Bet’s playbook and uses its various personalities to brand special offers.
FOX Bet used the likes of Colin Cowherd, Charissa Thompson, and Cousin Sal to brand various promotional payouts throughout this past football season. Barstool leverages personalities like David Portnoy, Big Cat, PFT Commenter, and Marty Mush.
Bet Insurance
Even the best and most seasoned bettors are susceptible to bad beats—blown leads, bad calls, and fluke plays have spoiled plenty of seemingly sure things over the years. That’s why several sportsbooks offer various types of bet insurance.
Some books will offer site credit for parlays with one losing leg, while others will wipe away late-game losses. Bet insurance not only takes some of the risk away from a potential wager, it’s also good PR.
Barstool offers this for pitching changes in MLB games.
Barstool Sportsbook Brand Power
“Barstool Bets” app integrates Barstool’s strong portfolio of blogs, streaming video, podcasts, and social media presence to support free-to-play cash contests, backed by free-to-play gaming provider Chalkline Sports. In time, Barstool is expected to transform into a full-fledged sports betting app that accepts traditional wager types on a wide-range of sports.
What makes the future of Barstool Sportsbook so intriguing is the brand’s meteoric rise in recent years, spurred by a rapidly increasing and extraordinarily loyal fanbase comprised of young male sports fans—the precise demographic targeted by sportsbooks. Moreover, the reach of Barstool’s many tentacles in the sports media landscape figure to power an ultra-effective organic brand promotion.
Barstool Sportsbook won’t be the first household name positioned outside of the sports betting realm to slap its brand on a legal online sportsbook, but Barstool’s lineup of popular and engaging talent figures to drive prospective sports bettors in droves to the app.
This is, in part, why casino and sports betting giant Penn National Gaming made the costly move to purchase a minority stake in Barstool Sports, a move that within three years could grow to a roughly 50% stake. Whereas Penn National Gaming had previously paved the way for companies such as DraftKings Sportsbook to enter states where online sports betting has been or will be legalized, now PNG can throw its own sportsbook into the fray. As we previously explained in a separate post on the merger:
“Why do this? Penn National was already exceedingly-well positioned in the sports betting space given their reach and market access. But there rumors they wanted to launch their own brand-not simply provide access for partners. Acquiring a piece of Barstool allows them to do just that. No one was playing a “Penn National Online Sportsbook,” not in Pennsylvania or elsewhere. But Barstool Bets? That will resonate everywhere.”
Sure will.
States Where Barstool Sportsbook in Available
Currently, Barstool Bets is available in all states because it is simply an extension of the Barstool Sports website that offers free-to-play cash contests. Certainly, Barstool will benefit by being early to the party because this current format allows for the collection of e-mail addresses and other valuable user information.
Ultimately, when Barstool Sportsbook’s switch is flipped to a fully operational sportsbook, we can assume, given Penn National Gaming’s already well-established presence across the legal sports betting landscape, that it will operate both via the retail and online sports betting space in the following states:
- Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Barstool Sportsbook’s pathway to Pennsylvania is clear with Penn National Gaming currently operating two casino hotel properties in the state, including Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.
Read more about online sports betting in Pennsylvania.
Coming Soon
In addition to the states above, it is expected that the rapid growth of both Penn National Gaming and Barstool Sports will bring the app to other states that are waiting to go legal. Those states include:
- Indiana
- Colorado
- West Virginia
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Illinois
- Ohio
- Massachusetts
- Maine
New Jersey
Penn National Gaming owns Freehold Raceway, but that location doesn’t currently take sports betting action. Although it’s less clear exactly how Barstool Sportsbook will launch in the Garden State, its launch remains a possibility.
Read more about NJ online sports betting.
Michigan
Legislation signed in December 2019 enabled the Michigan Gaming Control Board to bring sports betting to Michigan. While retail sportsbooks are expected to begin taking action as early as next month, online sports betting is not expected to launch in the state until early next year. When it does, Barstool Sportsbook will be well-positioned with Penn National Gaming’s Greektown Casino Hotel location in Detroit.
Read more about online sports betting in Michigan.
Indiana
Legal online sports betting went live in the Hoosier State last October, and while major industry players such as DraftKings Sportsbook and Fanduel Sportsbook have thrived there, Barstool Sportsbook figures to become a factor, too, later this year. Penn National Gaming currently operates the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, which is located roughly 90 minutes from Indianapolis and 30 minutes from Cincinnati.
Read more about online sports betting in Indiana.
Colorado
Colorado recently became the latest state to launch online sports betting, rapidly deploying a number of sportsbooks in May. Penn National Gaming has market access and is expected to bring Barstool Sportsbook to Colorado sometime in 2020.
West Virginia
Legal online sports betting has been offered in West Virginia since September 2019, and Barstool Sportsbook is a good bet to launch there because of Penn National Gaming’s established presence within state limits. Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races is a popular casino hotel located in the upper Shenandoah Valley and is also readily accessible from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Sports Offered
While we don’t yet know specifics about Barstool Sportsbook, it’s safe to assume its sports betting platform will offer the same sports betting action as other big-time players. Those sports include:
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cricket
- Cycling
- Darts
- Football
- Golf
- Hockey
- MMA and UFC
- Motor Sports
- Rugby
- Soccer
- Tennis
Barstool Sportsbook Deposit Methods
Barstool Sportsbook is likely to offer a plethora of deposit options to fund accounts, including:
- Online banking
- Credit Card
- eCheck
- PayNearMe
- Neteller
- Skrill
- PayPal
Is a Promo Code Needed for Barstool Sportsbook?
Barstool Sportsbook offers competitive (and lucrative) promotions that rival other top legal online sportsbooks, but for most a promo code is not required. Barstool Sportsbook promos will come in the form of industry-standard risk-free bets and/or deposit matches.
Barstool Sportsbook History
The power merger of Barstool Sports and Penn National Gaming has been more than 15 years in the making.
Founded in 2003 by Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports was initially a weekly newspaper disseminated to public transit commuters in and around Boston. In its infancy, the paper had a heavy focus on fantasy sports and sports betting, and soon grew to also include commentary on items of public interest.
In 2007, Portnoy took Barstool Sports online, moving the content from a print tabloid handed out at Boston T stations to the internet. Soon after, Portnoy began hiring new writers that would grow the network in cities such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
Popular posts included commentary on sports, women, gambling, and pop culture items, helping to build a big enough following that Barstool soon began selling merchandise and hosting events.
In January 2016, Barstool Sports sold 51% majority stake of the company to The Chernin Group at a reported valuation near $15 million, prompting a move of its headquarters to New York City. In a subsequent restructuring, Portnoy maintained control of content, and former AOL CMO Erika Nardini was hired as CEO of Barstool.
That move, along with a 2018 court ruling that repealed the ban on United States sports gambling, each served as a precursor to the January 2020 sale of a 36% stake in Barstool Sports to Penn National Gaming. The reported deal was for a massive $163 million, meaning Barstool Sports’ current valuation currently sits in the neighborhood of $450 million.
In the coming months, Penn National Gaming will parlay its deal with the increasingly popular Barstool Sports to launch a sportsbook that is expected to create a bit of buzz thanks to the brand’s large and loyal following.
