Biggest Betting Events of the Year
The NFL is the biggest game in town at legal and regulated sportsbooks in the US. Pro football brings in the largest amount of overall handle, with each game attracting plenty of attention and betting action.
The NFL season starts Thursday, September 8th.
Sportsbooks start releasing lines for the weekly slate of NFL games to the public as the current set of games is winding down. Bettors begin weighing in immediately and this will continue up until kickoff. Some contests won’t move all that much, while others that have a good deal of action or changes, might see active fluctuations. When you place your bets, settlement will be based on where the odds stand at the time you wager. There are bettors who like to get their wagers in early, while some like to wait and see what develops.
America’s favorite sport and its biggest game is one of the most bet on events annually. More than 100 million people watch the Super Bowl each year and that number continues to grow. A lot of the fun with the Super Bowl is the unique bets on the coin toss, halftime show, national anthem, and others that bring in more casual sports bettors.
NCAA Football
The 2022 college football season kicked off with 11 games on Saturday, August 27th. The teams garnering the most attention continue to be the dominating big four of Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State. While the aforementioned schools dominate the college football landscape, there are over 125 Division I college football programs in the US with fans and alumni spanning across the country. Tailgating, grilling, and parties are all a part of the gameday festivities.
Like the NFL, college football is incredibly popular amongst sports bettors. With over 50 games each Saturday, there is plenty of action for bettors to indulge. College football offers similar betting markets to NFL, with spreads and total being the most popular bets. The number of games you can wager on in college football on a Saturday trumps an NFL Sunday and games are played all day and night with west coast schools kicking-off at 10pm EST or later. This gives sports bettors the ability to win big all day and night!
The College Football Bowl Season is an exciting time of the year where schools who qualify for a bowl game (must have 6 wins or more), get to matchup against schools form other conferences and determine bragging rights for their conference. The College Football Bowl Season is the leadup to the national championship game, which is played on Monday, January 9, 2023. To make the championship game you must first qualify for the College Football Playoffs, which includes only 4 teams. Those 4 teams are selected by a ‘Selection Committee’ consisting of 13 members who all vote on who the 4 best teams are in the country. Once the field is set, there are 2 bowl games to determine who will compete in the National Championship game. The winners of each bowl game will face off in the National Championship Game.
March Madness
March Madness is one of America’s favorite contests. It lasts about a month and has 67 total games. The American Gaming Association has estimated that 47 million American adults wager a total of more than $8.5 billion dollars on the men’s tournament. They also estimate that only 7% of those people will wager their money legally at a sportsbook or with a friend. March Madness doesn’t include an individual game that will top the Super Bowl but collectively the tournament will have a handle over 2x the amount of the Super Bowl.
Horse Racing’s Triple Crown - Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and
Belmont Stakes Horse racing might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of big sporting events, but a lot of people underestimate the size of the Kentucky Derby. People from around the world converge on Kentucky and put their hard-earned money on the line to pick a winner. It was reported in 2019 that over $250 million dollars were wagered on the event and given the circumstances of the ending, a lot of people were on the edge of their seats. And there’s always plenty of action surrounding the US’s other biggest races: the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.
World Cup
Soccer isn’t a major sport in the United States but when the World Cup comes around it captivates the world, and everyone tunes in. In 2018 it was reported that over the course of the event 3.572 billion people viewed the 64 matches. According to FIFA, these viewers were also throwing down big money, with an estimated $136 billion dollars wagered in the entire tournament, and $7.2 billion on the final match. When the Men’s World Cup takes place later this year, it will mark the first time a majority of Americans will be able to bet on the event legally.