Select your timezone: Select

Sports events with the biggest betting volumes

It is estimated that Americans wager a total of $155 billion on sports, and this number is expected to increase as more states legalize gambling following the 2018 Supreme Court’s decision to set aside the 1992 federal law that prohibited gambling in most of the states in the country.

We are not talking about the volume of betting that happens in regions like Asia and Europe. Now, while it is very difficult to ascertain the total amount wagered both legally and illegally globally, the clear thing is that there will continue to be an increase in the number in the near future.

There are different systems and styles employed by bettors, especially when it comes to the sports they like to wager on. However, some sporting events cut across regions, as they are wagered on almost all over the world, commanding a huge amount of wagering for a series or a single game. You can bet on sports as well as play online casino games at https://casinosites.bet/new-casinos/ where brand new UK casinos are aplenty.

World Cup

When you consider the type of betting that happens around the World Cup, you will realize that American football cannot even come close. There are 64 matches in this soccer tournament that happen every four years, and people can bet on those 64 games. The 2018 tournament in Russia drew up to 3.572 billion viewers from across the world, which is almost half the population of the world.

According to a study that was conducted by FIFA, these viewers were not just a casual set. On the estimate of the amount of wagering that the tournament received, the sports governing body put it at a total of $136 billion, with the final match of the tournament that took place between Croatia and France receiving up to $7.2 billion in bets. So, you can see how huge soccer betting is.

It is way above all other sporting events when it comes to bets, and the event of 2022 in Qatar will be no different.

Super Bowl

This is the biggest sporting event in the United States of America, and it is also a national holiday. The Super Bowl 54 where the San Francisco 49ers were defeated 20-31 by the Kansas City Chiefs recorded 102 million viewers.

The betting numbers for the Super Bowl are even more unbelievable. For the game of 2020, the estimated potential bet was put at $6.8 billion by the American Gaming Association. Apart from the popular total wagers and traditional point spread, a huge portion of the bets consist of exotics and prop bets, with some bookmakers offering up to 600 more props for the game between the Chiefs and 49ers.

March Madness

The office bracket pools have been there for a very long time, but the NCAA’s flagship event could be wagered on in many different ways. There are 67 games in the college basketball tournament, and each of the games inspires a huge number of bets. According to the American Gaming Association, the tournament commands bets that are far more than what the Super Bowl can ever receive, with March Madness receiving up to $8.5 billion in bets.

According to the total handle in Nevada, the information above is very accurate, as the 2019 tournament received more than $305.5 million in one of the regulated sportsbooks in the state. That is more than double the $145 million that the Super Bowl 53 handle received.

Kentucky Derby

The American sports betting environment still has horse racing as one of its biggest events, and a huge amount of the betting happens on the Churchill Downs that commences the Triple Crown. For the Kentucky Derby of 2019, more than $250.9 million was wagered across the globe, including the $4.1 million that was wagered on the event for the first time in Japan.

In the 2019 event, there was a controversial conclusion for bettors when Country House was declared the winner after the disqualification of Maximum Security that won the race for violating the lane rules after a video review.

Boxing

This may have lost its hitherto huge popularity, but the big fights still command a huge amount of excitement and betting. In Nevada, boxing betting reached a total of $100 million in 2017 when Conor McGregor took on Floyd Mayweather. This fight drew the largest amount ever wagered in a single event in the state after the Super Bowl.

World Series

There are at least 4 MLB games in the grand finale of the fall classic, and there has been a new turn in betting interest. In the 2017 edition, the amount of bets that sportsbooks in Nevada received on baseball was up to $1.1 billion. In the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros matchup in 2017, the World Series betting interest increased massively, with Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale betting up to $11 million on the Astros in different sportsbooks in several states, all towards shoring up his furniture store promotion. However, when the Nationals came out victorious in seven games, the operators cashed in big time.

Other Notable Events

Cricket World Cup: outside the United States, cricket is a very huge sporting event, and this international event that takes place in a single day every four years inspires a huge audience, TV broadcast, and betting.

Rugby World Cup: this is another sporting event that relies on national pride in other countries except the United States. This commands a huge amount of betting all over the world every four years.

Melbourne Cup: this is the biggest horse racing event in Australia, and it commands a very huge international audience and betting.

Grand National: this stands as one of the most challenging horse races in the world, and it is very popular in Great Britain.

More about Betting Guide