We all know how popular sports are to follow and how they brighten up our lives. Even if your team loses, there is something about sports that is life-affirming. In the modern world, many people are no longer content to merely watch games or catch up on the latest sporting stories, though. Many fans now like to bet on sports too. This is certainly true in the US, since the Supreme Court enabled individual states to legalize betting in 2018.
Since then, many states have chosen to do so and allow people within their borders to have fun betting on matches. Arizona is a great example and this state now has some top sports gambling websites to try out. Of course, it is a similar picture in other US states where gambling on sports is now legal, and in other countries worldwide that allow legal sports betting.
The changing legislation around this industry plus the number of safe sportsbooks online means that sports betting is really taking off currently. But which are the most popular sports to bet on?
Tennis
Although it might not be the first sport which springs to mind for betting, tennis is one of the most popular globally. This is not a surprise when you consider it is a top sport for people to follow and one that most of us are familiar with. This familiarity means that bettors feel comfortable wagering on it, as they understand how the game works and which bets might come off.
In addition, the widespread coverage of tennis in the media makes it easy to keep up with which players are in form. The popularity of tennis as a sport to bet on can also be explained by its omnipresence. Unlike some other sports, there is no tennis off-season and there are always matches to bet on at any time of the year. This means that many people turn to tennis when other sports are not playing.
Basketball
While stories like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar auctioning four championship rings will always make headlines, basketball is also making waves in sports betting. As one of the so-called Big Four sports in the US, it has a massive national presence and a big following overseas. This exposure means that lots of people follow top leagues like the NBA and enjoy betting on games to add more fun to them.
Many people also find that basketball is more predictable to bet on and comes with fewer shock results. This can really help when deciding which bets to make and which side might win. Although the NBA does have a set season, when it is running there are plenty of matches to back. In addition, many sportsbooks online will cover other basketball leagues overseas for bettors to get involved with during the NBA off-season.
Football
Another hugely popular sport for bettors is football. It is thought, for example, that almost half of all sports wagers in the US are made on football. This is even more true for the Super Bowl, where massive sums are wagered. This saw a reported $158.6m worth of bets made on the 2018 Super Bowl and an estimated 26 million people bet on 2020’s event. But why do people like to bet on this sport?
Firstly, you have to look at the accessibility it offers – pretty much all sportsbooks will carry NFL games. As well as this, betting on football comes with lots of different markets to dive into and interesting bets to make. Many people simply like to bet on football because they are fans and want to get even closer to the action.
Soccer
Although football might arguably be the biggest sport to bet on in the US, soccer is perhaps the biggest on a global scale. This is hardly surprising when you learn that there were are an estimated 3.5 billion soccer fans in 2021. It is reported that around 70% of all global betting is made on soccer games and this shows the appetite bettors have for it. As with other sports that people like to bet on, it is easy to find at sportsbooks, there is usually a match going on somewhere and it has multiple markets to wager on. All this combines with the number of people who love the sport to make it a big deal within sports betting.
Popular sports to bet on
As the above shows, the sports we like to bet on are also some of the most popular sports to follow. This correlation is no accident and shows that people like to bet on sports which they not only understand but also feel close to. While others might attract a share of the sports betting market, there is no doubt that those discussed here are top dogs for now.