Hockey’s 4 Nations Face-Off has been a bonanza for the sport, drawing huge audiences and player intensity. It’s also getting sports betting industry attention heading into Thursday night’s final between two politically charged teams: USA vs. Canada.
"The 4 Nations tournament has been great so far, featuring the most bet-on hockey games of the season,” BetMGM senior trading manager Christian Cipollini said. “We saw plenty of U.S. backers a few nights ago against Canada, and they were happy to cash in"
The U.S. knocked off Canada 3-1 Saturday in a game that featured 5.4 million viewers, three fights in the first nine seconds, and fans in Montreal booing the U.S. National Anthem to protest President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian imports.
USA-Canada game on Saturday night had 10.1 million North American viewers per @NHL
— John Ewing (@johnewing) February 19, 2025
USA-Canada was the most bet hockey game this season at @BetMGM 📈 pic.twitter.com/movENP5URh
"We expect the USA-Canada final to be the most bet hockey game of the year. Canada winning would be a good outcome for the sportsbook," Cipollini said on Thursday.
That sentiment was shared at competing sportsbooks.
“The Four Nations has been great from a betting engagement standpoint, particularly as fans look for marquee events coming out of football season,” said Adrian Horton, director of North American sports trading for ESPN BET. “With anticipation building for tonight’s rematch on ESPN, this feels like a Stanley Cup final game from a trading perspective.”
Major betting event
DraftKings told Covers the 4 Nations games were the most-bet hockey contests this season. FanDuel said that U.S.-Canada game alone received 11 times as many bets as this year’s average number of tickets on NHL games while the entire four-team tournament averaged six times as many bets as an NHL game.
bet365 told Covers last Saturday’s contest was incredibly popular. The majority of bets on the USA’s win came from Canadians, and the anytime goalscorer market was the most-bet market.
Thursday's final is shaping up to be a monster for the sportsbook.
“This game is already our most bet game of this season and is tracking to have more bets on it than Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals,” said a bet365 spokesperson, who added there have been “more bets on it than the majority of the NBA Finals games.”
Final insights
BetMGM reports both the U.S. and Canada are -110 on the moneyline for Thursday’s 4 Nations championship showdown. The Great White North's team is receiving 67% of the handle and 56% of the bets to avenge their loss to the Americans.
At -1.5 on the puck line, the U.S. is getting 72% of the bets with +220 odds, but BetMGM's handle is evenly split. ESPN BET reported Wednesday 68.6% of the bets and a very slight 50.2% of the handle are backing the U.S. at -110 on the moneyline while 66.8% of the bets and 76.3% of the money is on USA -1.5.
Both operators have seen the majority of the total on the Over 5.5 goals scored for Thursday’s meeting. BetMGM reports 72% of Over bets while ESPN BET has taken 63.1% of the money on a high-scoring affair.
Canada is receiving 50.2% of BetMGM's handle to claim the Face-Off crown with the U.S. getting 43.2% of that futures market. The online sportsbook took less than 7% of wagers on Finland and Sweden combined.
With so much interest in Thursday's matchup, Canadian sports betting enthusiasts and those with access to US sportsbooks are sure to tune in.
