BetMGM vs Barstool sportsbook

Barstool and BetMGM are two top sites in the USA – but which one is actually better than the other? Find out right here.

Welcome bonuses – BetMGM vs Barstool

BetMGM – 4/5

When you join the BetMGM site, you are given the chance of a $500 risk-free using the code WABPLAY sports bet for your very first wager. The minimum requirement to get this offer is that you must deposit and wager at least $10, and if your bet doesn’t ultimately result in a win, then you will get your money back up to a maximum value of $500. As it happens, this money is credited back to your account in 10% increments. So if you wagered $500 and the bet lost, you’d get 10 separate $50 bets. You then have 7 days in which to use the free bets, which are completely free of wagering restrictions.

Sportsbook – 5/5

As it happens, the Barstool welcome bonus is practically identical to what’s on offer at BetMGM. When you join Barstool as a brand new player, you can also make a $500 bet with the promise that the wager will be returned to you if the bet doesn’t win. As you can see, this offer is identical to the BetMGM offer in monetary value, but we believe the Barstool welcome offer is narrowly better for one main reason – you don’t need to wait for the full credit to be added to your account. While BetMGM gives the cash back in 10% increments, Barstool gives it back to you in one fell swoop, which is more efficient. To make matters even better, the site will actually give you a $10 free bet on top of this reward.

Sportsbook offerings and value of odds at both sites

BetMGM – 5/5

While both BetMGM and Barstool have solid sports betting offerings, BetMGM is marginally better from what we’ve seen. Not only does this site have a better range of sports to bet on, but the odds tend to be higher than what Barstool offers too. The total range at BetMGM is superior to Barstool as here you can bet on 20+ sports, including NCAA events and major European soccer. And while we’ve stated that BetMGM has better odds on average, the site even selects certain markets and gives them an ‘odds boost’ – and this happens almost daily. Most of the time, these markets can be seen under ‘specials’ in the main sportsbook.

Barstool Sportsbook – 4/5

It’s not all bad by any means when it comes to the Barstool Sportsbook, hence why we have given the platform a 4/5! To the credit of the site, it covers many popular leagues in North American, including NCAA events, MLB, NBA, NFL, and much more. And while many of the betting markets are for events taking place in the USA, Barstool does cover sporting events from Europe and the rest of the world. This is seen with available betting markets for Champions League soccer and even Aussie Rules games too. Since you can always back a pre-match market or a live market for most events, Barstool still has quite an impressive sportsbook offering, even though we’ve awarded the win to BetMGM.

Existing player bonuses – where the ongoing value lies

BetMGM – 5/5

As you will see from the marks out of 5 for the two sites in this section, here is where BetMGM really makes a difference. At the time of writing, BetMGM has between 5 and 10 ongoing promotions listed on the site, and they are all fairly competitive compared to what else is out there in the market. For example, BetMGM offers bonuses such as cashback incentives, weekly free bets for several sports, up to 40% boosts on parlays, and more. Once you’ve got an account registered with BetMGM, you can grab as many of these promotions as you wish – assuming you are eligible that is.

Barstool Sportsbook – 3/5

Although Barstool does offer around 5 ongoing promotions right now, they aren’t particularly competitive, and some of them aren’t actually guaranteed rewards – they operate as prize pools. As an example, one of the promotions is to share your bet on social media to be in with a chance at a $25 free bet. Other incentives on the site include $5 rewards to customize your profile and a $10 welcome gift for signing up. But besides these offers, Barstool is sadly lacking, which is why we’ve marked them down as a 3/5.

Additional features at BetMGM and Barstool 

User Experience – BetMGM wins

BetMGM – 5/5

The main reason that BetMGM takes the victory for this section is that the platform aesthetics are much more appealing than Barstool’s. We love the gold and black color blend that the site has been constructed with, and in terms of the presentation of the sports and markets, it has much more clarity. Thanks to changes in font colors and other dynamic elements, it’s easy to see what’s going on in the betting markets, what wagers you can make, and to add to this – the site’s responsiveness is excellent.

Barstool – 4/5

Although Barstool has a nice color scheme and uses more visuals/images than BetMGM, the site isn’t as easy to use. It’s much less obvious on this site where you’ll need to click to find your desired markets and bets, and there is a greater number of subsections, which effectively makes it longer to make your wagers. We just feel that the site has tried a little too hard to make it seem super sophisticated and professional, but these efforts have undoubtedly hurt the general user experience to a certain extent. But with that said, once you have gone through the learning curve of using the site, things do get easier.

In-play Betting – Barstool wins

BetMGM – 4/5

This is quite an interesting one, and we’ve decided to knock a point off for BetMGM here as it doesn’t have quite the same market depth for in-play bets as Barstool has. While BetMGM does offer live markets for plenty of sports, it can often be the case that you won’t find a whole bunch of events. This sometimes leaves you with just 1 or 2 events to make a live wager on for any given sport, which of course, reduces the options that you have.

Barstool – 5/5

Barstool is receiving top marks here as the platform has clearly made a real effort to include as many live markets as possible. Naturally, the number of markets open varies depending on the time that you log-in. But with that said, Barstool does cover a greater number of live events for each of the sports that it covers, even if BetMGM actually has more sports to bet on.

Live Stream – BetMGM wins

BetMGM – 4/5

This site does offer streaming, but this is still a feature that is being introduced at BetMGM, meaning that it isn’t extensive by any means. Currently, you can watch live sports on the site for rugby, tennis, soccer, basketball, and a few other sports too. But since the feature is still in the early stages, the number of events you can stream is still somewhat limited. This will no doubt improve with time, but the reason we’ve given BetMGM a 4 here is that the streaming quality is actually quite good.

Barstool – 1/5

Unfortunately, Barstool does not appear to have any kind of streaming services on the site. While the site does have a bunch of live markets, you won’t find any links to initiate a video stream, and this is true for the desktop and mobile platforms. So for that reason, we have to score Barstool at a 1 out of 5.

Mobile Application – Barstool wins

BetMGM – 3/5

You can easily download the BetMGM sportsbook app for your Android or iOS device, but when you do, don’t expect a phenomenal experience. Unlike the desktop site that BetMGM has, the mobile app is much less slick and streamlined. In fact, we found that the app can take quite a while to load certain pages, and the responsiveness doesn’t live up to expectations. It’s true that you can still access features like streaming and live betting, but it could do with improvements.

Barstool – 4/5

The Barstool mobile app performs much better than BetMGM’s, which completely reverses the outcome for the user experience discussed earlier. After downloading the app, you will be treated to a sharp and quick platform, which makes the whole betting experience feel quite seamless. It’s also highly convenient that you can make quick deposits on the app, as well as check out the promotions and place live bets. For these reasons, we feel that Barstool deserves the win in this category.

Cash-out – BetMGM wins

BetMGM – 5/5

Having the option to cash out your bets gives you much more control over your betting experience, and BetMGM receives full marks for this feature. Whether you’ve made a moneyline bet, a parlay, or an over/under type wager, BetMGM will offer you a cash-out option if things are going well. This is true for most sports, especially for the major leagues such as the NFL and NBA. And we also love that BetMGM has made things very simple for when you want to cash out your bet, as it can be done with just one click.

Barstool – 4/5

Barstool does offer cashouts for a lot of sporting events, but in our experience, the cash-out values are not quite as generous and not quite as regular. These are the main reasons for the point being taken away here. And to add to that, it can sometimes happen where Barstool suspends the cashout options for long periods of time, which means you have to wait for the offer to be given once more. This can impact how easy it is to cash out a bet.

Pros & Cons

Conclusion – BetMGM narrowly takes the victory

Having looked at all of the positives and negatives for both of these sites, we would have to say that BetMGM currently provides a better experience. There are quite a number of reasons for why we have reached this conclusion, including the sportsbook range, the ongoing promotions, and the user experience on the desktop site. But although we believe that BetMGM gives a better experience, this was not an easy victory for BetMGM at all. Barstool competes in a number of categories, as you have seen throughout.

Barstool would definitely be the better option if you prefer to make bets on a mobile app, and the live betting opportunities are also slightly better here. But in order to reach an accurate and fair conclusion, you have to take everything into account, which is what we have done. With all of this in mind, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to stick to just one site. You can register for a new account with both if you really want to, and that would mean that you are in a position to enjoy up to $1,000 in sports betting welcome bonuses.

This is subject to the state in which you are currently a resident, and remember that you must be over the age of 21 to create an account too. If you like what you’ve seen for either of these sites, then why not give them a try today? After all, the best way to decide what site suits your needs best is to get some first-hand experience!