Launched in 2014, SportNation is a fairly new addition to the online betting industry, which is quite popular among punters for its excellent loyalty schemes and enticing bonus offers. In fact, many punters believe that its offerings rival those offered by the biggest betting sites in the UK.
SportNation has been developed by giving special consideration to the interface and experience of users. In this review, we’ll take an in-depth look at all the aspects of this betting site. We’ll provide you with a comprehensive analysis of its main performance indicators, including the odds quality, betting markets, licensing, security, and more. Read the full review to know how this betting site fares in the world of online betting, and whether you should create an account on this betting site.
Reviewers Verdict
Even though SportNation is a newcomer in the UK sports betting scene, it is already getting quite popular in the betting community. This is largely because of its daily specials, eye-catching reward system, and the variety of markets on offer for both in-play and pre-match betting. The dedicated mobile apps for casino games and sports betting have also helped the bookmaker gain a foothold in the competitive gambling industry.
In our review, we found that the extensive sports betting options are presented very efficiently on the site’s homepage. The website’s interface makes it easy to navigate the popular bets, promotions, in-play markets, and more. Many bettors also like the live betting option, which comes with numerous in-play football markets, greyhound races live streaming, and more. The wide variety of options for live betting can rival some of the bigger bookmakers.
Besides this, SportNation also offers competitive prices and features like reward points, enhanced odds, cashback, best odds guaranteed, etc., to provide better value to punters. The promotions provided by the site cover the full spread of markets, and its welcome bonus is also quite generous. You can expect to benefit from free bets on horse racing, football games, and virtual sports, as well as free spins on CasinoNation. So, the common consensus among bettors is that SportNation is an excellent new bookmaker that offers great services rivaling the major bookmakers.
Age / Trust
Formerly known as Bet on Brazil, this betting site was revamped and relaunched as SportNation in 2017. It is currently operated by Argyll Entertainment Company. Although it has been around for just 5 years now, it has won the hearts of many punters. In fact, in the 2018 EGR Awards, it won the title of Innovative Operator of the Year.
SportNation runs on the SBTech platform, and provides more than 150 football markets and 100+ daily greyhound/horse races. Their generous pay-outs, huge welcome offers, and a wide array of promotions together contribute to making an extremely rewarding gambling session. It possesses the UK Gambling Commission license, and most of its users are from Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Licensing and Safety
Whenever you are trying out any new sports betting site or casino, it’s important to take safety measures into consideration. In terms of security and safety, SportNation could not be any better. From the moment you register with them, all your information, including deposits, and withdrawals, is secured with SSL data encryption.
SportNation also possesses strong licensing credentials. It is run by Argyll Entertainment, which also operates the RedZone sportsbook. This company is fully licensed by UKGC to operate in the United Kingdom. This means that it is committed to providing safe and secure betting services to its users.
In addition to all this, SportNation also believes in promoting safe gambling habits among its users. During the registration process, it allows the users to set the spending limits so that they can guard themselves against irresponsible betting in the future.
Sign Up Procedure
If you want to start betting with SportNation, you will first have to create an account with them. The sign-up process on the site is quite straightforward, and can be done in three simple steps –
Step 1: You’ll find a ‘Join’ icon on the top-right corner of the screen, which will take you to the first stage of the registration process. Here, you might be asked to fill out some basic information about yourself, like your name, date of birth, email, etc. When you are done with this, you can click ‘Next’.
Step 2: In the second stage of the registration process, you’ll have to fill in your mobile number, address, and country. Click on ‘Next’ after this.
Step 3: This is the final stage of the registration process. You can now set your username and password, along with odds style and currency. When you are selecting a password for your account, make sure to choose one with a combination of letters and numbers. In this step, you’ll also be allowed to set your spending limits.
In our review of the sign-up process, we didn’t really find anything to complain about. The whole registration process is completed within a few minutes.
Deposit Options
SportNation is well-known for its wide variety of betting markets and casino options. Considering this fact, one would assume that they have a huge list of deposit options. However, that is not the case. Players have the option to make deposits via debit cards, Trustly, PayPal, and Skrill. These payment options are essentially the norm these days.
It would certainly be nice to see this sportsbook come out with a few more betting options for its users. The good news for players is that the bookmaker does not charge any hidden fees for the deposits. Besides this, the maximum deposit limit on SportNation is also quite high, so the high stake players will have the option to inject funds into their bets generously.
Withdrawal Speed / Options
What most punters are actually interested in are the withdrawal options and the speed at which they are processed. We found out that SportNation does not offer many popular options like paysafecard and Neteller. However, it does support debit cards, PayPal, Skrill and Apple Pay. These withdrawal methods are great for people who want to secure quick cash outs. The minimum withdrawal limit is also in line with the betting industry standards. Withdrawals are usually processed within 48 hours, however, it can take around 3 to 5 days for the funds to reach the user’s account.
If you are planning to cash out a bet, the first thing you’d have to do is make sure that the withdrawals are done using the same method you deposited the money in. So, if you are making an investment using PayPal, and you want to take the cash out option, you can’t do it with your credit card.
Overall, the absence of some popular withdrawal methods can be a negative for some players, however, the bookmaker more than makes up for it by offering PayPal and Apple Pay.
New Customer Bonus
Welcome bonuses are a great way to incentivise the new players to try out the bookmaker's offerings. This is why many betting sites try to one-up each other when it comes to new customer bonuses. SportNation also provides an excellent new customer bonus. This bonus covers several unappreciated aspects of the promotion besides the financial aspects.
When you create an account on SportNation, you will be provided with a welcome bonus. The promotional offer provides the new player with a 100% bonus (up to £200). To qualify for this offer, all the player has to do is make a deposit (minimum £25) with a code – SPORTS200. After this, they can place bets on any sporting event with their deposit. There are a few other requirements that the player would have to fulfil to qualify for this bonus –
To create an account on SportNation, the player would have to be in UK or Ireland.
The bets placed with the deposit should have minimum odds of 1.60.
Wagering requirements to withdraw winnings: 5x
The player would have 30 days to meet the wagering requirements.
The maximum limit for the winnings from this bonus has been set as £1,000.
If you meet all these requirements, and your bet is settled, you will get a 100% deposit bonus (a maximum of £200). The SportNation welcome offer is updated and refreshed regularly, however, there is a formulaic pattern to it. Punters can get a sizeable deposit bonus on their first deposit, however, this is not really free cash. It comes with certain conditions attached to it.
Existing Customer Bonus
Existing players on SportNation can also take advantage of some exciting special promotions and offers like weekly free bet (£5), free bet virtuals bonus, and free bet on your accumulators. Let’s take a look at these in detail –
Daily best boosts: SportNation offers new best boosts to its users every day. When we reviewed the site, it offered boosts on the Liverpool vs Roma Champions League match.
Weekly free bets: If you place a wager with £25 on sports between Monday to Sunday, you’ll get a free bet worth £5 on the following Monday.
WhatsApp promotions: If you provide your WhatsApp number, you can get access to some exclusive promotions that are not available on the site. These include free bets, ticket giveaways, and more.
Rewards: With SportNation rewards, you can get points for every bet you make. As the number of selections increases, the reward points also increase. These reward points can then be used to redeem real items like Sonos Play 1, etc.
Quality of Odds
We compared the odds provided by SportNation to those given by big bookmakers. We found that SportNation holds up quite well in terms of odds quality. In a La Liga game, we found that the overround was about 106%. When we compared this to a few more markets, we found that SportNation’s odds were higher. Since any odds under 110% are competitive, we found SportNations’s odds quality to be pretty good. The odds also update fairly quickly on both mobile and website, which is important for in-play betting. It goes to show that this new betting site is serious about offering its customers the best deal.
Bet In-play Options
Many bettors like to place their bets on live matches, as they prefer to get involved in the game as it is happening. All the punters who like in-play betting would be glad to know that SportNation provides the best option for the same. The in-play betting offer is available for a range of sports, including tennis, football, cricket, basketball, and others. The odds update fairly quickly, and SportNation also provides a neat statistics page that is great for in-play bets. Bettors can also use the cash-out option in certain markets and sports.
The betting site also provides live streaming for horse racing events through its SBTech platform. Although it doesn’t provide live streaming for other events, users can watch horse racing live streams even without placing any bets. The bookmaker is planning to enhance its live-streaming capabilities in the near future.
Cash Out Feature
SportNation provides an excellent cash out feature to its users, which is available for most of its markets. The updates also come in quickly, which ensures that the bettors get the best price possible. The cash out feature is most popular for pre-game bets. Even in in-play sports events, if you find that the last minutes of the game can be potentially risky, you can secure your profits by using the cash out feature. SportNation also provides a partial cash out for certain markets in both in-play and pre-match bets. It’s evident that SportNation has covered the basic cash out features most punters expect these days.
Sportsbook Betting Products
Diversity of Sports markets
SportNation provides hundreds of betting markets for every game in the popular sports category of games. For instance, a Premier League game can come with around 130 different betting markets, ranging from full-time result, and first goal scorer to winning margin. This bookmaker also provides some specific betting markets like team to miss a penalty and outright up to 70th minute. There is always a varied mix of betting markets to keep things exciting for players.
The range of betting markets in the in-play betting section is also pretty decent. What we liked best was the graphic on the top of the page, considering the fact that most sports betting sites come with basic graphics to show how the match is going. The graphics on SportNation are also quite lush with comprehensive text updates with the images. They also provide many graphs to show which team is leading, which is a great way to provide the punters with a snapshot of the overall game.
Non-sports Betting Products
Casino / Bingo Offers
SportNation is not just a sportsbook. It provides an excellent casino too, which is aptly named CasinoNation. There is a variety of slot, card, and table games on offer, and the live casino section on CasinoNation is pretty great too. The site also offers lucrative offers from time to time, so you might be tempted to try out some casino games even if you normally don’t go for casino games. The layout of CasinoNation is somewhat basic as compared to that of SportNation. However, punters would have no problem with finding and playing games.
Special Promotions
When you register with SportNation, you will receive an excellent welcome bonus. But the great news for interested bettors is that SportNation continues to spoil its users with ongoing promotions and special offers. These special promotions can be easily found on the Promotions tab, which is found on top of the website. It takes you directly to the offers. The special promotions on offer change from time to time to suit the ongoing tournaments and seasons. Here are some promotions you can expect to find on the site –
Weekly £5 Virtuals Bets: With this offer, you can claim a weekly free bet for betting on virtual sport events. If you place four £5 virtual sports bets in a week, you will get a free bet worth £5 to use on any virtual sports event.
Weekly £5 Free Bet: Every time you bet on SportNation, you’ll get a chance to win a free bet every week. To claim this offer, you will have to place a treble bet with a stake of £25 or more. Another requirement is that the odds for this have to be 1.20 or more.
Best Odds Guaranteed on Horse racing: SportNation also provides guaranteed best odds for selected horse racing events.
Enhanced Odds
The seemingly endless promotional offers on SportNation are the main reason why this betting site enjoys such popularity among punters. As for the daily enhanced odds, they are offered for various sports like horse racing, football, and snooker, among others.
Mobile App Experience / Usability
The stunning design of the SportNation site translates well into its mobile site and app too. The SportNation betting app is available for both Android and iOS devices.
SportNation iOS App: With an iOS app, SportNation provides Apple users with extra convenience. The bookmaker had previously provided exclusive offers to its users on downloading the app.
SportNation Android App: Both iOS and Android apps are not really polished yet. However, the bookmaker provides a neat layout, easy navigation, and a wide range of offering to its Android users, which is certainly a plus.
SportNation Mobile site: Bettors who don’t want to download the mobile app can still benefit from the mobile experience offered on the SportNation mobile site. This site is well-optimised for on-the-go betting, and comes with all the bells and whistles that are offered in the desktop version of the site.
Customer Service / Reputation
Every good betting site should be able to effectively solve its users’ queries and doubts. During our review, we found customer service to be very responsive and efficient in the live chat section. All queries, big or small, were solved almost immediately. Users would not have to wait for more than a few minutes to find a customer service agent. However, this service is not 24/7. It operates 7 days a week, with 12 hours a day.
Besides this, SportNation also provides a comprehensive FAQ section and the option for email support. Email enquiries are generally resolved within 48 hours, so if you want quicker resolution, it’s better to go with the live chat option. The only downside of their customer service is the lack of telephonic support.
Countries Accepted / Restrictions
SportNation holds a United Kingdom Gambling Commission license, and they only accept GBP. Most of its betting services are targeted toward UK and Ireland citizens. Since the site only supports the English language, non-native speakers from other countries might have problems using the site. The betting site also restricts users from countries like Turkey, Macau, Ukraine, and the US.
Conclusion
Our overall impression of SportNation is that it’s a pretty good betting site, which has the power to give competition to some of the bigger bookmakers in the UK. Part of its appeal lies in its exciting sign-up bonus and the great selection of both in-play and pre-match betting markets. With high-quality security features and excellent customer service, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t try out this new betting site.
Pros
· Excellent selection of both niche and mainstream sports markets.
· First deposit bonus of 50%
· Responsive and quick customer service
· Secure and fully-licensed bookmaker.
Cons
· Some popular payment methods are still missing.
· No telephonic support.
· The live chat option is not 24/7.
FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
How long are the free bets valid?
Free bets are usually valid for 7 days. They can be used on all bets which offer minimum odds of 1.2.
Is there a way to check my Reward Points balance?
SportNation makes it easy to check the rewards points balance, which can be seen on top of the page, next to the Available Balance section. All you have to do is simply click on the ‘Rewards’ tab, and you’ll be able to see the number of points you have currently.
Do Rewards Points come with an expiry?
Yes. If reward points are not used within 6 months of earning them, they will expire.
Is Bitcoin accepted as a payment method?
No. SportNation does not accept any cryptocurrency, including Bitcoins.