Sports

Hockey, Basketball, and More: Which Sport Do Canadians Like to Bet on?

Published

1 year ago

June 21, 2023

Sports betting is and always has been one of the most popular pastimes. However, in the 21^st century, the practice has become more popular than ever. Reasons for this vary. For one, sports in general are a lot more popular now than ever before. However, one of the main reasons for wagering’s popularity is the rise of online sports betting.

Online sports betting is exactly what it sounds like. Placing wagers on your favorite sports through the internet. There are a ton of excellent websites that cover popular sports, like football, soccer, horse racing, and more. On top of that, sports betting websites also tend to offer some excellent promotions, welcome bonuses, and other perks that make wagering a lot easier and more entertaining.

Recently, the Canadian government has deemed it worthy to legalize sports betting. According to studies, prior to the legalization, Canadians spent over a billion dollars wagering at offshore accounts. Now that sports betting is legal, that money goes to legal sportsbooks, and back into circulation.

Canada has a long-standing love for sports. In this article, we would like to explore the most popular and beloved sports in Canada and talk about the ones that Canadians love betting on most.

Ice Hockey

Very few will be surprised to learn that ice hockey is the most popular sport to wager on among a Canadian crowd. Most associate the sport with the country, and for good reason. The ice variant on hockey first started in the country of the maple leaf.

And speaking of maple leafs, the Toronto-based professional team is among the most popular hockey teams in the country, despite their recent blunders. Founded in 1917, the Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League, one of the USA’s four major league sport events.

Canadians develop a love for hockey at a very early age. Skating is a skill that most Canada residents learn as children, most take up hockey as early as elementary school, and kids follow games with their family. So, it is no surprising that ice hockey is Canada’s favorite betting sport, and will likely continue to be in the future.

However, hockey is not the only sport that Canadians have developed a deep love of. So, let us take a look at other athletic competitions that push Canada’s residents to visit the sportsbooks.

Basketball

Basketball was invented in the late 19^th/early 20^th century, by American-Canadian physician and physical educator, James Naismith. So, it is unsurprising that Canada still has deep love and respect for the sport today. Throughout the years, the sport has grown in popularity in the country, reaching its apex in 2019.

But, what happened in 2019 to attract so many Canadians to basketball? Well, 2019 was the year when the underdog team, the Toronto Raptors, managed to reach the National Basketball Association finals, and even defeat the hitherto-believed-unbeatable Golden State Warriors, winning the championship in doing so.

And while the Raptors have not managed to recapture their 2019 glory, the sport remains incredibly popular among Canadians today. Sportsbooks have noted an uptick of bets from Canada during the basketball season.

Golf

Golf has a long, sordid, and controversial history. Debate rages on to this day on whether the sport began in the Netherlands, Scotland, or has been around from an earlier age. The consensus seems to be that golf as we know it today came about in the Scottish Highlands in the 15^th century. However, it wasn’t until the Victorian Age that the game became internationally popular.

It was during the 1800s that Canadians adopted the sport, and it quickly became one of the most popular and beloved sports in the country. Today, Canada is among the top five countries where golf is most popular. With its sprawling fields, luxurious golf courts, and round-the-year tournaments, Canada has managed to produce some incredibly successful pros in the sport.

But, how popular is the sport among a betting audience? Well, as golf is not a seasonal sport, it certainly has an advantage over many. Golf tournaments occur all year around, allowing bettors to wager at any point during the year. It is precisely this fact that makes golf one of the most popular sports to bet on, not just in Canada, but in general.

Canadian Football

Many people around the world are familiar with “American football.” However, few know about its northern counterpart, Canadian football. Much like the American variant, Canadian football is a form of gridiron that derived from Rugby. While Canadians may not be as passionate about Canadian football as Americans are about American football, they still love the sport. In fact, it is among the three most popular sports in the country.

Naturally, the popularity of the sport also makes it incredibly popular to bet on. Canadian fans follow gridiron games, passionately cheer on their favorite teams, and place wagers on some of the most popular Canada-based sportsbooks that cover the games extensively.

Though there are quite a few differences between Canadian and American football, the two have enough similarities for their fans to overlap. Which means that many Canadians are very likely to follow American football as well. And unsurprisingly, American football is also quite a popular betting sport, especially in the southern regions of Canada.

Honorable Mentions

In this article, we have covered four of Canada’s favorite betting sports. However, as we said before, Canadians have a deep love and passion for a wide variety of sports. And while the four discussed are certainly popular among many bettors, they are not the only ones worth talking about. So, in this section, we would like to list off a few sports that attract quite a large betting crowd:

Lacrosse (among the most popular sports in the country)
Baseball (certainly one of the most popular sports to wager on)
Cricket (with 2.5 billion fans, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world)
Soccer (undoubtedly the most popular sport in the world, garnering over 3 billion fans worldwide)

Sports

Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

Published

1 day ago

November 5, 2024

Anne Joseph

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Sports

Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Sports

Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

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AP NFL:

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