What Do Canadians Prefer To Bet On

Sports betting is huge in Canada, there’s no denying that. Quite literally thousands if not millions of bets are placed each year, mostly through some of the best online betting sites available in the market for 2020. However, while this is true and sports betting is a pretty exciting industry in Canada right now, we thought we’d look a little closer and see what Canadians are betting on to amass such numbers.

It’s a bit of a different market to the likes of Europe, Australia, and South America, so naturally, the sports that capture the attention of Canadians are generally very different from the continents mentioned above. With that said, let’s get right into it and check out what these sports are.

Ice hockey

This was always going to be listed within our post. Ice hockey has grown to such a point that it has almost become a religion amongst Canadian sports fans. Besides the national interest that Canadians have with hockey in general, there is 10 months' worth of NHL action to bet on every single year. As you can see, this creates plenty of betting opportunities and plenty of excitement from a sports betting perspective. It probably also helps that Canada is a nation that is very good at hockey too.

The national team has won gold in a couple of Olympics, both men, and women, and there’s plenty of national interest for players in the NHL right now. Players like Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid spring to mind on this topic, and yes, you can bet on individual markets for these players too. Truly hockey is almost unparalleled anywhere else in the world concerning the pride and joy that Canadians get from the sport.

Basketball

Switching from the NHL to the NBA here, basketball is another sport that Canadians just love to place wagers on. Canada has the CEBL (The Canadian elite basketball league), but there’s so much interest in the NBA right now that this almost isn’t necessary. Over the years, Canada has produced some immense players too, as seen with greats like Tristan Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, and Dwight Powell. The national team may not be as great as other countries from around the world, as they are ranked outside of the top 20, but then again, the interest is mainly focused around the NBA.

When you look at basketball from a sports betting perspective, the attraction is obvious. Not only is it one of the quickest North American sports out there, but there’s also no chance of a draw in any basketball game, therefore increasing the chances of placing a successful bet (in theory).

Football

Naturally, this list would just not be complete without including football. Just like the other sports that we’ve discussed within this post, there’s plenty of Canadian interest in the NFL. This isn’t just a recent thing either - Canada has produced some absolute beasts that have played in the NFL over the years. Just think of players like OJ Atogwe and Rueben Mayes! These guys were flying the Canadian flag in the NFL for years, and in 2020, there’s still plenty of guys that are incredible.

It’s quite funny that these players are still classed as ‘foreigners’, despite the fact that many of them are from just over the border. So, in 2020, we would definitely advise keeping an eye out for players like Antony Auclair, Eli Ankou, Brent Urban, and Nathan Shepherd. Needless to say, besides the great players, there is just month after month of top-tier NFL action to watch every year, which is another reason that this sport is so popular among Canadian bettors.

Baseball

The final sport that seems to be huge among Canadian bettors is baseball. Once more, Canada might not have its own league on the go, but with plenty of top-flight players competing in the MLB, it’s no wonder that this sport ranks highly in Canada. The main reason that baseball is so popular, however, isn’t actually the national interest for home-grown players, it’s for the sheer amount of action each season.

In any regular season, a team can play over 160 games, so you can literally make bets until your heart's content with baseball. It’s a sport that just never runs out of action, and the stakes can get particularly high during the postseason world series. Given the popularity of this sport, online bookmakers tend to regularly create bonuses for baseball, and the odds are often highly enticing when two big teams clash!