Since covid started, it seems like every other commercial these days is for either sports betting (FanDuel, DraftKings) or online casinos (all of the big casino companies have an 'online' counterpart)
They all advertise some sort of $100 risk-free bets or something of that nature.
Was this some sort of concession to physical casinos since their customers weren't able to come on-site and gamble?
Yep, it's unrelated. In Michigan, in-person sports betting became legal the very same day the NBA paused their season due to Covid. Online was always going to come after that, and took about 10 more months before it opened up. There wasn't any particular rush.
All I know is that here in the Netherlands, online gambling used to be illegal but it was legalized somewhere last year. Now advertisements for this stuff are also allowed, because "people need to be made aware of the legal offerings" (in contrast to the illegal ones).
They all advertise some sort of $100 risk-free bets or something of that nature.
Was this some sort of concession to physical casinos since their customers weren't able to come on-site and gamble?