Sports betting is one of America’s biggest pastimes, but how popular is it in Canada, the upper half of North America?
It is no secret that sports betting and sports fantasy are a huge pastime in North America. The United States and Canada are both huge markets for sports in general, making the two countries a prime target for both. However, which one of these countries takes the cake as the biggest sports betting country out of the two?
A recent study done by Leger gave us some insights.
26% of Americans engaged in sports betting in 2025
In a recent study, Leger picked 1,015 American adults and 1,621 Canadian adults and asked them questions revolving around sports betting and sports fantasy.
26 percent of American adults picked up the apps and placed their bets on different sports in 2025 (January through August). This may not seem like a massive amount, but this percentage equals around 68 million Americans.
In contrast, Canada's sports betting population fell below America, with only 19 percent of adults in the country participating in the popular pastime. This equals out to around 6 million Canadians.
However, both countries saw a decline this year in millions of bettors, meaning we could potentially see sports betting fall even more in 2026, especially with this new tax in Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, which will force Americans to pay taxes on all money that comes back to them in betting, even if they are still in the hole.
NHL dominates in Canada's sports betting market while falling back in 4th place in America
It is probably not surprising that the NHL takes first place in Canada's sports betting market. While the sport is still popular in the US, it is well-known around the world that hockey is originally a Canadian sport.
In fact, the NHL is fourth on the list of America's most popular sports for sports betting. The NBA, MLB and NFL all hold places in front of the popular hockey league.
The NFL, though, is by far the biggest sport for sports betting in America, as it takes up 59 percent of sports betting amongst the individuals that took part in this study, with the MLB at 40 percent.
However, the NFL is still popular in Canada, as it fell in second place in the country, making it an incredibly popular sport for Canadians. This is interesting due to the fact that American football has such a small fanbase outside of North America.
With new laws coming into place, it will be interesting to see how popular sports betting is by the end of 2026.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more betting and esports news.
