You may have arrived here looking for the most profitable sport to bet on. It’s a common question in the betting industry. The answer, as you will find, is one that varies depending upon who you ask.
Key Points
– The most profitable sport to bet on is a topic that has been debated.
– Betting on the most profitable sport is different for everyone.
Winning Sports Bets
Ask the question to a dozen different sports bettors. “What sport is the most profitable to bet on?” It is likely that you will get 12 different answers.
Every gambler has a unique set of skills. One might have played college hockey, making NHL betting seem much more natural. Basketball may be your sport of choice because your father was a high school coach for many years. It might just be that you thrive on betting Group of 5 football because that’s what you’re best at.
The key message is to put your attention on whatever strategy works best for you. If you have a winning strategy, you should stick to it. If you don’t have one, keep working until you find one. It’s out there.
For those who have not found their most profitable sport, here is a list that you may find helpful.
EDITOR’S CHOICE: THE IMPACT OF GOALIES ON THE STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
The Most Profitable Sport – College Basketball
There are many advantages for bettors in college basketball. The overwhelming number of games is the first.
There are 358 college basketball teams. There are 32 conferences and a handful of teams that play as independents. Every conference team plays every other team in their conference at least once and, in some cases, twice, each season.
Every college basketball team is going to play roughly 30 to 32 games per season if they don’t make a postseason tournament. In a given season, that represents over 5,300 games not counting postseason tournaments.
With so many games and different bet types, that represents a ton of opportunities for the average bettor. In a given week, there might be 500 games from which to choose. When add in point spreads, moneylines, totals, props, etc.; bettors have a wealth of chances to win.
Plus, consider that college basketball actually starts in mid-November. In those early months of the season, sportsbooks are more focused on college football and the NFL. College basketball gets lost in the shuffle. That opens the door for smart bettors to take advantage of softer lines.
Betting on the NBA
Bettors either love betting the NBA or they hate it. Gauging player motivation on a daily basis can be tough on the betting psyche. You like a certain player and his team to have a great night against an inferior opponent. It doesn’t go your way.
Where it does go your way is NBA live betting. This has opened the door for today’s modern bettor. Watching the live action, bettors get a feel for how a player is performing, how a game is progressing.
There are some wild swings in the NBA. Teams will be down by 25 and, all of sudden, the lead disappears. Teams routinely come back from huge deficits. That opens up all sorts of opportunities in NBA live betting.
Baseball Is the Most Profitable Sport
Like college basketball, MLB presents bettors with a huge number of games. Each of those games represents hundreds of opportunities to find winners. Add in the MLB playoffs and bettors have in the neighborhood of 2,500 games on which to bet.
What also works in bettors’ favor is that summer is viewed as the off-season in the betting industry. Sportsbooks are much less active. It’s easier to catch them “off guard” during the summer.
The sheer number of statistics and metrics available for baseball also gives bettors an edge. Bettors can find stats on how teams hit left-handed pitching. They can find how well that team hits left-handed pitching in a certain ballpark.
With so much information available, the average bettor can find advantages all summer when betting on baseball.
The NFL & College Football
Betting on the NFL is more popular than any other sport in the U.S. Since the NFL has only 32 teams, it is a bit more predictable than college football. The NFL’s parity also creates a situation where the worst team in the league can beat the best team almost any time. NFL player props are becoming more popular too.
That’s not the case in the college game. With 131 FBS teams, the worst college football teams never beat the best. There’s that much of a difference.
NFL point spreads are much lower and it’s rare to see double-digit spreads. In college football, double-digit spreads occur a lot. Spreads of 20 and 30 points are common when you have teams like Alabama and Georgia going up against New Mexico and Charlotte.
The Other Football
There are hundreds of teams and dozens of soccer leagues around the world. Bettors can find action on games pretty much any time. Many of the European leagues begin play in the fall and carry on to the next year.
The U.S.’s MLS starts play in the spring and runs through the entire summer and into the fall. That means bettors can find action almost all year-round.
There are some different bets available in soccer like three-way moneylines and betting on totals is a bit different. The key to having success betting on soccer is first learning the different types of bets. Then, learn the strategy involved with each bet.
The NHL Could Be the Most Profitable Sport
There are NHL seasons where nearly 40 percent of underdogs win games. The number is even higher for home underdogs.
Bettors can’t simply wager on NHL underdogs all the time and expect long-term gains. However, finding the right NHL dogs can lead to some serious profit.
Hockey produces some weird outcomes, but there are enough upsets to give underdog bettors a chance. Hockey is also a sport that is not as closely monitored by sportsbooks as others. Seasoned bettors can find some value bets throughout a typical NHL season. Knowing how to find them is the key.
The Best of the Rest
Horse racing can be the most profitable sport to bet on if one has the time to commit. It takes a lot of work to learn about horses, tracks, etc. in order to place the best wagers.
The WNBA starts in the late spring and continues through the summer. It’s another summertime sport and we know that the summer is the offseason for sportsbooks. You can lump tennis and golf in there too. There are some great bets – tournament winner, for example – in both sports where odds can approach +1000 even for the favorite.
Finally, the CFL gives football bettors something to do while the NFL and college football return. Understanding the differences of the CFL game compared to the NFL game is a must. There are only nine CFL teams too, which makes it easier to get dialed in on all the action.
