The Summer Olympics and U.S. sports betting have never collided like this.
The last time the three-week event – filled with an enormous number of betting opportunities – were held was 2021. Less than 20 U.S. states were operating legal sports betting when the 2020 Summer Olympics were moved back a year because of COVID-19.
The total amount wagered that year was less than $58 billion, and revenue from sports betting topped out at $4.3 billion.
With the 2024 Summer Olympic Games underway in Paris, online and retail sports wagering has exploded since the last global event.
Thirty-eight markets currently offer sports betting in the U.S., which produced more than $66.5 billion in wagers and $11 billion in revenue in 2023.
“We expect this to be the most bet Olympics in BetMGM history,” BetMGM data analyst John Ewing told Covers this week. “The continued expansion of legal sports betting and favorable timing of events with the Olympics in Paris should help drive action from bettors.”
Plethora of markets
The Summer Olympics offers an incredible amount of wagering opportunities.
DraftKings will have more than 200 markets covered on its online sportsbook, depending on what’s allowed in each legal sports betting state.
BetMGM has Olympics odds listed for more than 40 sports, including already-popular wagering events like basketball, soccer, tennis, boxing, and golf.
There are also new opportunities to bet on sports that always capture Olympic fans’ attention every four years, like gymnastics, swimming, diving, track & field, beach volleyball, table tennis, triathlon, and water polo.
And then there are the obscure ones, like Judo, sport climbing, break dancing, canoeing, fencing, and weight lifting, that might draw first-time bettors to those sports.
Just a few days away until we’re able to bet on Olympic break dancing 😂
— Covers (@Covers) July 24, 2024
Yes, break dancing is now an official Olympic sport.
pic.twitter.com/8jxuECia5D
bet365 is offering the most markets it ever has for any previous Olympics.
"We will be offering live betting for events where applicable as well as expedited round-by-round book updates for events that require them, in addition to the vast range of markets we have pre-event," said bet365 trading leader Aron Wattleworth.
Sportsbooks across the U.S. are hoping the Olympics offers an action boost at a time when the summer slowdown is hampering handles and revenue.
Without any major sports besides Major League Baseball, the NFL and college football can’t get here fast enough for sports betting operators and state revenue offices.
With the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday and the Paris games running through Aug. 11, the event is a perfect lead-in to a much more profitable sports season.
“The Olympics are a special event and we’re excited to be offering a wide variety of betting markets for the games,” Johnny Avello, DraftKings director of sports operations, told Covers. “This will be a fun event for bettors in the middle of the summer, as we get ready for football season to kick off.”
Hoops heaven
FanDuel said about half of its entire handle from the previous Summer Olympics came from basketball, which features U.S. men’s and women’s teams as the favorites.
With not only Olympic basketball odds on traditional spreads and totals markets, the online sportsbook is also offering player props and in-game parlays that FanDuel expects will make hoops the “most robust offering” from the Paris games.
Led by LeBron James and Steph Curry, the U.S. men’s team is eyeing its 17th gold medal since its first in 1936 and a fifth consecutive spot atop the podium since a disastrous showing in 2004.
“USA Men’s Basketball has an excellent roster, and you can feel the energy around this team,” Avello said. “Fans are really excited to see this collection of players and we expect them to be heavily bet. They are currently -500 to win the gold which might seem a bit short, but it’s a testament to how good the global competition has gotten. There is star power across the board now and this should be a really great basketball tournament.”
The U.S. squad is getting 92% of the handle and 94% of the tickets at DraftKings.
ESPN BET told Covers that it's seen 24.8% of the bets and 86.9% of the handle on the Steve Kerr-coached group.
The home team France is tied with Canada for the second-most action at 4.8%. Serbia, Germany, and Greece have also taken money to win the basketball tournament.
Other popular wagers
There are other markets receiving action and seeing massive favorites.
DraftKings lists the U.S. women’s basketball team as a -1,800 favorite to bring home gold.
Fanatics also has hundreds of markets available and told Covers that Great Britain has seen the highest handle in the Equestrian Eventing Team Gold Medal Winner market. England has gone from an opening number of +165 to win it to now -250 to claim gold.
American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone opened as a large -900 favorite to win the women’s 400m hurdles, but the third-most bet market at Fanatics has brought that down to -400.
Sandwiched in between those two action grabbers is the USA’s number of gold medals market. America’s total opened at 38.5 with the over/under both being -115 in Olympic medal odds. Bettors have moved that number to 39.5 with the over at -130 and the under getting even money.
U.S. athletes combined to capture exactly 39 gold medals in the last Summer Olympics.
"Whether it's the more traditional and popular Olympic sports, the four-year itch type sports, or the newer generation of sports that are now Olympic sports, the action grows every four years," said Wattleworth. "That will be the same this year, with the U.S. betting market being much more mature now, the 2024 Olympics will see record action."
