Revelations from eCheckCasinos.ca on Ontario’s Thrilling Betting Scene
There are a few combinations in life that just make sense. Bread and butter, fish and chips, beer and nuts, Canada and the NHL. Oh, our beloved NHL. Few Canucks can resist the magnetism of a puck on ice. No other sport ignites our passion like hockey. It flows like liquid nitrogen through the veins of this great nation. So, when we ask Canadians what they think is the most popular sport to bet on, the obvious answer must be hockey… right?
Not according to eCheckCasinos.ca. Their collective data, much of which comes straight from the government of Ontario, puts hockey a bit further down on the list. Hockey doesn’t even appear in the top three. Must be baseball then, right? Oh, we do love a good seventh-inning stretch! Nope. Not baseball either.
Most Popular Sports to Bet On in Ontario
According to the iGaming team at eCheckCasinos.ca, there are three professional sporting events that draw a great deal more attention from the wagering public than hockey or baseball, although those do round out the top five (in that order). Ahead of them are basketball in the number one spot, soccer in second, and football in third. See the full report here.
These are certainly entertaining contests; some of the most popular in the world, mind you. But in Canada? Who would voluntarily watch a CFL game over the Calgary Flames in the Saddledome? (Personal biases aside…) Sports bettors, that’s who. And if you really think about it, it makes perfect sense.
Bigger Scores = Bigger Betting Market
Ontario’s iGaming market researchers found that basketball bets account for a whopping 29% of all wagers in the province. Likewise, basketball is the highest-scoring game of all major athletic competitions. We often see scores in the three-figure range. Coincidence? Not at all.
It isn’t the frequency of baskets that’s got bettors all riled up, but rather the predictability of which team is likely to score the most. When you have superstars like LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Kevin Durant hitting the net, you know it’s going to be a big night. If a high-impact player is sick or injured, it can have a devastating impact.
It’s situations such as these that make basketball the most popular sport for betting. Sometimes, it’s downright obvious who’s going to come out on top. Sportsbooks lean so heavily on spreads and totals with high-paying odds to draw bettors in, and Ontarians are eating it up like butter tarts.
The Greats vs. The Mediocre
The popularity of soccer bets in Canada can be reasoned out in a different manner. It has nothing to do with soaring scoreboards. Quite the contrary. In terms of points per game, soccer – the second most bet on sports in Ontario, harvesting 15% of all wagers – is the most comparable to hockey. Even if you combine the final scores, the odds of reaching double digits are incredibly slim. So what’s the big attraction?
First and foremost, there are only a handful of great soccer teams on the planet. I don’t just mean good teams, but the truly impressive ones. If the Premier League’s Manchester City took on Sheffield United right here, right now, no one with an inkling of knowledge for the game would take the latter in a straight-up bet.
It doesn’t hurt that the men’s Canadian soccer team has been kicking butt and taking names recently – something they haven’t done since the mid 1980’s. Canada’s appearance in the 2022 World Cup sparked millions of new fans north of the 49th parallel.
NFL Takes the Cake, If Only Once a Year
Canadians aren’t exactly known for their love of football. But there’s one day each year when all eyes turn to the National Football League, and that, my friends, is Super Bowl Sunday. Football accounts for 13% of the nation’s betting. Statistics don’t show what percentage of that percentage is laid on the Big Game, but it’s safe to assume it’s a vast majority.
Last But Certainly Not Least
In fourth and fifth place respectively are our beloved NHL and MLB. Reports indicate 9% of all Ontarian sports bets go to hockey, and 8% to baseball. If we love them so much, why don’t we bet more on them? Shouldn’t we put our money where our mouth is?
I’d like to think most of us hold off on these bets because we don’t want to spoil our love of the games. Every responsible sports fan knows it’s never good to bet on your favorite team, and we certainly don’t want to bet against them. At the least, we should bet on match-ups between the teams we don’t care so much about.
Closing Remarks About Responsible Betting
If you’d like to place bets in Ontario, remember to wager responsibly. It doesn’t matter what sport you are targeting. Please know there is help if you or close ones are suffering from gambling addiction. Gambling resources include ConnextOntario.ca and BeGambleAware.org. Wagering age is 19+. More information on the regulated Ontario market on this page: https://echeckcasinos.ca/ontario/.
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