It’s finally here. The first Sunday slate of NFL games is upon us, and fans of Ohio’s teams won’t even have to toggle between two games to catch all of the Buckeye State action.
The Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns open the 2023-24 season by facing off against each other in Cleveland on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m.
Fittingly, this is the first NFL season opener since the legislature legalized Ohio sports betting. With the Jan. 1 sports betting launch in the state, Ohio bettors could only wager on two weeks’ worth of regular-season NFL games last season.
Several sportsbooks are taking advantage of the extra excitement of having the “Battle of Ohio” game double as the season opener by offering special Bengals/Browns odds boosts and other offers.
Here’s a look at what Ohio sportsbook promos are out there for the first week of NFL games.
Bengals/Browns odds boosts abound at Ohio sportsbooks
The majority of special Bengals vs. Browns offers from Ohio sportsbooks are odds boosts. Here’s a look at some of the best boost offers currently available.
Double your winnings at DraftKings
DraftKings Ohio has a “Battle of Ohio” Profit Boost offer for which users receive a 100% profit boost to use on any bet of at least $25 involving Sunday’s Bengals vs. Browns game. The boost offer, which includes single bets and SGPs (with minimum odds of -500 or longer per leg), expires after the game.
Tipico odds boost are based around Ja’Marr Chase and Nick Chubb
Tipico Sportsbook has a couple of Bengals/Browns odds boost offers, found in the “Boosted Odds” section of the app. Odds for Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase notching under 69.5 receiving yards is boosted from +120 to +150.
Tipico’s “BIGPLAY Browns Boost!” boosts odds from +125 to +250 on a Browns fan-friendly three-leg parlay: Browns to score 10+ points; Browns RB Nick Chubb to rush for 50+ yards; and the nemesis Steelers to lose its Sunday home opener against the 49ers.
Caesars, bet365 and Superbook offer odds boost on single-game parlays
SuperBook Sportsbook is offering odds boosts on 10 pre-selected Bengals/Browns SGPs. The boosts are sometimes small, but if you’re hitting a three- or four-leg SGP, every little bit can add up. One of the bigger boosts (with considerably longer odds) is +1700 (boosted from +1600) on an SGP in which Nick Chubb and Browns WR Amari Cooper each score a touchdown and both Bengals RB Joe Mixon and Ja’Marr Chase also notch one TD a piece.
At Bet365 Ohio, users can take advantage of odds boosts on six Bengals/Browns SGPs, which can be found on the app’s NFL page under the “Bet Boost” tab. There, you’ll find offers like an odds boost from +625 to +750 on a three-leg, Cincy-favoring SGP in which Bengals WR Tee Higgins scores a touchdown, the Bengals win and Cincinnati scores over 3.5 TDs. If you think Watson will have a breakout game, there’s also a SGP in which the quarterback has to score two or more passing TDs, run for a touchdown and notch 200 or more passing yards in the game.
Likewise, Caesars Sportsbook Ohio has a handful of odds boosts on SGPs related to the Battle of Ohio. The difference is that Caesars offers the boosts on two-leg SGPs (and they don’t tell you what the odds were originally). Among Caesars offerings is the “Joe Cool Boost” (+500), which hits if Burrow passes for over 299.5 yards and three or more TDs. The maximum bet for all of Caesars’ NFL odds boosts is $100.
Be sure to check back with your Ohio sportsbooks of choice regularly in the lead-up to Sunday’s game, as more such odds boosts could potentially be added.
Ohio sportsbooks offer NFL futures promos and more
Some Ohio sportsbooks are taking advantage of high pre-season hopes by offering odds boosts on futures markets.
BetPARX Sportsbook, for example, currently has a “Bengals Superboost” offer, boosting odds on Cincinnati winning the AFC North from +150 to +200.
The Bengals’ sports betting partner Betfred Sportsbook is offering boosted odds — from +1000 to +1200 — on Cincinnati winning the Super Bowl. The maximum bet is $100 and the offer is available only until Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. Last season, to celebrate its partnership with Cincinnati, Betfred paid out all bets on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl weeks ahead of the Super Bowl (which the Bengals didn’t play in).
Betfred’s Bengals love extends to another promo this season. Like last season, the sportsbook is doing a “King of Cincy” giveaway. The grand prize winner receives four suite tickets to the Bengals game against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 17 at Cincinnati’s Paycor Stadium and $5,000 in bonus bets. Two runners-up will receive two suite tickets to the Ravens game and a $50 bonus bet.
Any user who places a bet at Betfred Sportsbook of $20 or more on any NFL game through Sept. 11 earns an entry into the contest. Additional entries are earned with each $20+ NFL wager on games through Monday.
Browns have dominated the Bengals in the Joe Burrow era
Expectations are sky-high for both of Ohio’s AFC North franchises this season.
The Cincinnati Bengals recently made Joe Burrow the highest-paid player in NFL history. Now, after a contract extension for their quarterback, the team is looking to make another deep playoff run.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns hope for a return-to-form season from quarterback Deshaun Watson. Fans hope for a solid season from Watson and their first division championship since 1989.
The Bengals have been the more successful Ohio team this decade, capping off their 2021 season by making it to the Super Bowl and returning to the AFC Championship Game last season.
However, the Browns, who made it to the playoffs in 2020, have dominated their matchups against the Bengals of late. Since Joe Burrow joined the Bengals in 2020, Cleveland is 5-1 versus Cincinnati. The Bengals won the last time they faced the Browns — a 23-10 victory late last season — marking their first Battle of Ohio win since 2019.