Leger Study Dives into the Sports Betting Habits of Americans and Canadians
Posted on: September 23, 2025, 07:28h.
Last updated on: September 23, 2025, 07:32h.
- 19% of Canadians and 26% of Americans bet on sports in the past year
- NHL remains top sport to bet on or play fantasy sports in among Canadians
- NFL remains top sport among Americans both for sports betting and fantasy sports
There are a lot of things that divide Americans and Canadians these days. Their collective love for sports betting and fantasy sports isn’t among them, according to Canadian market research and analytics company Leger.
NHL No. 1 for Canadian Bettors
Leger, based in Montreal, specializes in providing consumer insight, data analytics, customer experience measurement, strategic consultation, and AI-powered market research services to helps clients make more informed decisions.
From Aug. 29 to 31, 2025, the company says it surveyed 1,621 Canadians and 1,015 Americans, 18 years of age, on their sports betting habits, and their involvement in fantasy sports – timely since at that time NFL season was about to kick off.
Fantasy Sports
The results aren’t going to surprise people. There are slightly fewer sports bettors and fantasy sports players in Canada and the U.S. compared to one year ago, however they both remain popular activities. Nineteen per cent of Canadians and 26% of Americans have bet on sports in the past year, compared to 21% and 30% respectively from last year.
This was a surprise, considering how much of a betting bethemoth the NFL is – the NHL remains the top sport to bet on or play fantasy sports in among Canadians. Forty-one per cent of Canadian sports bettors have bet on the NHL in the last year, compared to 26% for the NFL, and 21% for the NBA. Thirty-two per cent of Canadian fantasy sports players played NHL fantasy hockey.
Americans Betting More on Baseball
However, the NFL remains the top sport among Americans for both activities – 52% of American fantasy sports player played fantasy NFL football, and 59% of American sports bettors bet on the NFL last year.
Canadians don’t bet on the NFL as much anymore – a drop from 37% last year.
But Americans are betting more on the national past time – betting on MLB increased among Americans year-over-year (40% over the past year, an increase from 28% last year).
Betting Likely to Increase
Among those who intend to continue betting this fall, their betting activity is likely to increase compared to last year, especially in the U.S. – 56% of American NBA bettors, 42% of American NHL bettors, and 45% of American NFL bettors from last year who intend to continue to bet this year said they will increase their betting spend.
The issue of sports betting ads was an interesting part of the study. Canadians are more likely to feel there are too many sports betting ads – 75% of Canadians and 59% of Americans, an increase from 52% in the U.S. last year.
Forty-nine per cent of bettors in both countries say real-time odds shown on screens increase their likelihood of betting on the game.
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