Best Online Sportsbooks for Fun and Lucrative Contests in 2022
If it’s a fair contest, there’s no reason at all that the winner can’t be you!
Just about every sportsbook in the world offers bonuses and promotions to new and loyal customers. But some sportsbooks also offer additional value and excitement in the form of contests.
Contests may be:
- One-time events
- Recurring based on sports seasons/events taking place
- Recurring over a set period of time (i.e. weekly or monthly)
Some contests may stick around for a long time if they are recurring. Others may come and go quickly. If you miss your chance to participate in them, they may be gone forever! It just depends on the site and the contest.
Contests may be skill-based, or they may be entirely chance-based. Sometimes they are simply drawings.
We have noticed that a lot more sportsbooks are offering contests nowadays than did in the past, so, we decided to put together a guide that would introduce you to the sportsbooks that are best to join if you want to participate in contests.
Below, we tell you a bit about each of these sites, and then share examples of the contests that they are offering as of the time of this writing.
That means that when you check this post, some of the examples you see listed may be dated.
Regardless, these examples should at least give you an idea of the types of contests that each of these sites tends to run. But before we dive in, let’s go over some reasons why contests on sports betting websites are worth your time (and sometimes, your cash).
Benefits of Sports Betting Contests
Added value — often for free! When a contest is free, and many of them are, you literally have nothing to lose by entering! You could also have a really good chance of winning something if you find a contest that rewards a large percentage of participants.
Add more fun, whether you win or lose. Obviously, when you enter a contest, you hope to walk away with a prize. But even if you do not, you will still enjoy more excitement than you would if you did not enter.
Sometimes you might receive a consolation prize. Most contests reward you either based on skill or luck (or some combination of both). But there are also some contests that reward you for losing or coming up short in some way (an example is the 20 X $50 Parlay Free Bets Weekly Draw at Everygame).
You could win more than money. While cash and points are the most common prizes for contests, sometimes prizes might include trips or merchandise.
Sometimes you can win a whole lot of money. We have seen rewards of tens of thousands of dollars allocated for top winners in sportsbook-run contests. Not only that, but sometimes winnings from contests are rollover requirement-free.
BetOnline.ag is one of the biggest online sportsbooks around with numerous loyal customers in the US and Canada. We recommend them based on years of fantastic experiences with their bonuses, deposits and withdrawals, betting markets, and customer support.
This is the place to be if you are looking for contests! BetOnline always seems to have something going on. Conveniently, they leave their closed contests posted on their Contests page (they mark them “Closed!” versus “Open!”). If you look over their past contests, you will see it is not unusual for them to run several in the course of a month.
At the time of this writing, here are some of the contests we see listed:
- March Madness $100,000 Sweet 16 Bracket (closed)
- ESL Pro League XV $20,000 Esports Parlay Contests (open)
- March Madness $250.000 Bracket Madness Contest (closed)
- Covington vs. Masvidal $10,000 UFC 272 Predictor (closed)
- $10.000 Daytona 500 Predictor (closed)
- $25,000 Super Bowl Props Predictor (closed)
- Bitcoin Bash Score Predictor (closed)
- Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2 $10,000 UFC 271 Predictor (closed)
- $100,000 NFL Playoffs Pick’em (closed)
- $5,000 NFL Playoffs Pick’em (closed)
To give you some perspective, all of the contests listed above took place within the past two months. So, there is never a dull moment at BetOnline.
Some contests on this site have an entry fee, while others are free. Entry fees are usually pretty low.
Potential winnings are sometimes amazingly high. For example, the March Madness $250.000 Bracket Madness Contest paid $75,000 to its top winner.
For open contests, you can see at a glance how much time is left to enter right on the Contests page.
So, check BetOnline frequently for new contests. There are some amazing opportunities on a frequent basis!
- Best For
BetOnline is one of the best sportsbooks online if you are looking for frequent contests for a wide range of sporting events in different markets. There is always fresh excitement to be found here.
This website is a fabulous choice for wagering with a large or small bankroll. For more than 20 years, they have been making sure that even their biggest winners get paid out in full and on time.
BookMaker.eu does hold contests from time to time, but as far as we can tell, they do not post them on one central contests page.
Here are some examples of contests that this website has offered in the past:
- March Madness $1 Million Perfect Bracket Challenge
- 2019 Second Chance Bracket Contest
As the name implies, this contest had a $1,000,000 prize for a perfect bracket, along with an array of other hefty cash and point prizes for other winners. And actually, the minimum you could win in this contest was 50 BetPoints (yep — just for entering).
This contest also paid out to all contestants, even in last place.
It is pretty nice to get paid to enter a contest, right? BookMaker has run some really generous contests.
- Best For
If you hate losing, you should participate in the contests at BookMaker. At least some of the time, this site gives out at least minimal points to everyone who takes part, even if they lose. Do they do this with all their contests? We are not sure. You will need to check the rules before entering.
And make sure you also take a look at How to Use the Prop Builder at Popular Sportsbooks!
Here is a sportsbook that consistently blows our minds with dedicated customer service and diverse betting markets. We also love their loyalty program, bonuses, and of course, their contests.
At the time of this writing, here are the contests we see at MyBookie:
- MyBracket
- Squares
- Survivor Contest
- MyBookie Super Contest
You can tell we put this together during March Madness, right? This is the March Madness bracket contest offered by MyBookie.
This contest is available for NCAAF, NFL, and NBA. It involves a game board where you select squares. Each square is an entry, for which you pay a purchase price. Only one bettor may wager on any given square. The site explains that once a game begins, “The total, accumulative score of each team at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters, along with the Final score, determines the winners. The last number in each team’s total score is matched with the grid and the owner of the square where those numbers intersect is the winner.” You can find additional details in the terms and conditions.
The description for this contest is, “Pick a winner each week to Survive. You can’t pick the same team twice. Last Survivor wins it all.” There have been a number of different Survivor Contests, each with its own rules.
The description for this contest reads, “Pick 5 NFL games against the spread each week. Earn points to climb the leaderboard. Prove you are the best handicapper and win huge prizes.” There has been a range of different Super Contests as well.
So, MyBookie has some promotions that come and go for specific sporting events, but this site also offers some ongoing/repeating contests to enjoy.
- Best For
While contests that come and go for special events can be enjoyable, it is also nice to be able to participate in recurring contests. You can rely on promotions like MyBookie’s Squares for ongoing fun.
You may have heard that the folks who run BetOnline purchased a particular struggling site in the past and transformed it into a phenomenal online sportsbook. That website is SportsBetting.ag. Let’s take a look at their contest selection.
Here is what we see at the time of this writing:
- $10,000 Masters Predictor
- $100,000 Sweet 16 Bracket (Closed)
- ESL Pro League XV $20,000 Esports Parlay Contests
- March Madness $250.000 Bracket Madness Contest (closed)
- Covington vs. Masvidal $10,000 UFC 272 Predictor (closed)
- $10.000 Daytona 500 Predictor (closed)
- $25,000 Super Bowl Props Predictor (closed)
Noticing a pattern? Yep, these are the same contests that you can find at BetOnline.
- Best For
SportsBetting is offering the same huge selection of frequent contests as BetOnline. This sportsbook is a great choice if you always want a new contest to participate in.
Everygame is what Intertops is calling itself these days. It is the same great betting site that has been around for more than two decades, with the same awesome features, promotions, and odds.
This website lists its contests alongside its bonuses and promotions on its “Special Offers” page (in fact, Everygame really excels in the promotions department, so be sure to check out all the offers).
Here are the contests we currently see at Everygame:
- $500 Present for The Odds Hunter: “Show your skill and hunt down the highest odds for our monthly free cash prize.”
- 20 X $50 Parlay Free Bets: “If your parlay loses by exactly one option, you are in the weekly draw.”
- $25K March Madness Bracket (closed): “Make your picks for college basketball’s Big Dance and collect a tasty cash prize.”
- $1K Monthly Parlay Prince: “The customer with the highest net profit from a single parlay bet in each calendar month will be rewarded with an amazing $1,000 Bonus with no rollover requirements.”
Most of these promotions are ongoing. In fact, we check the Special Offers page at Everygame frequently and can tell you that these particular contests have been around for a long time now. So, we expect they will stay active for a long time to come.
Note that two of the ongoing promotions are aimed at parlay bettors. So, if you make a lot of accumulator wagers, this is the place to be.
- Best For
Everygame is another of the top sites for participating in recurring contests. It also should be the number one site you join for parlay contests.
What is the top destination for US bettors online? “Bovada” is a popular answer. This website is renowned for the quality of the betting experience it offers. Competitive odds, fast payouts, and friendly customer service are just a few of the features that set it apart from the crowd.
Bovada does not seem to be too big on contests, alas. But now and again, they do run them, usually in conjunction with the Super Bowl.
For example, here was the promotion the site ran for Super Bowl LVI. In the weeks leading up to the big event, Bovada gave its members opportunities to unlock entries into a contest to attend the Super Bowl. The top prize was an all-expenses-paid Fan Experience for two in Los Angeles. There were also 8 weekly cash prizes worth $5,600.
Some of the ways that players could enter include:
- Placing wagers on NCAA football.
- Playing certain games in the online casino.
- Making deposits using particular payment methods.
- Wagering on NFL.
- Posting in the Bovada community.
Things like that.
This was a very cool contest in that it provided so many different ways for participants to enter. Depending on how dedicated they were, participants could enter just a few times or a whole bunch of times.
We have not found a dedicated page where Bovada posts these contests. They may show up on the “Promotions” page. But the best thing to do is to sign up for the newsletter, and also check in with Bovada around big events like the Super Bowl to see if they have any new contests starting up.
- Best For
Bovada is an outstanding choice for Super Bowl contests.
This sportsbook is run by the same people who operate MyBookie. This site is solid with respect to its promotions, including contests and regular bonus offers. We also are super impressed with their rapid and helpful customer support team.
At the time of this writing, the only contest we see on Xbet is the X Bracket $10,000 Contest. This, of course, is for March Madness.
So, just check the “Contest” page leading up to big sporting events to see what Xbet is running.
- Best For
Xbet runs some exciting contests for major sporting events.
How to Get the Most Out of Online Sportsbook Contests
What kind of horrible contest from hell was there where this was the winner?
Here are a few quick tips for enjoying contests at online sportsbooks:
- Sign up for the sportsbook’s newsletter.
It can be easy to miss new contests if you are not looking for them or if you sometimes do not log into your betting account for days or weeks. To make sure that you never get left out of the excitement, make sure that you are subscribed to newsletters from all these sportsbooks you join online. Ensure that they do not get filtered by your account as spam.
- When a big event is coming up, check the “Contests” page to see what is new.
Most short-term contests are essentially promotions to attract bettors to wager on major events. So, if a big sporting event is coming up, that is the perfect time to check the Contest pages at your sportsbooks for new opportunities.
- Read the terms and conditions for the contest you want to join.
These will explain the contest rules and entry requirements to you in detail. If there are any terms concerning winnings and payouts that you need to know about, you will also find them right here.
- You may need to manually enter a contest, or entry could be automatic.
It depends on the contest. Do not forget to manually enter and pay any applicable entry fee if a contest does not automatically enter you! It would be a shame to think you were in the running for a prize only to find out you were not.
Participate in Exciting Sports Betting Contests Now
Contests are fast and easy to enter on sports betting websites, and quite often, they will not cost you a penny to participate!
Ready to try your luck? To get started with sports betting contests, just click the links on this page. Since there is a lot of diversity in contests, we recommend that you join at least a few different sites. That way, you can participate in as many contests as possible, maximizing your chances to win.
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