The popularity of sports varies massively across different regions around the world. Some sports have deep-rooted history in certain areas, some are linked to cultural traditions and some are driven by heavy investment in specific sports. Even regions situated geographically closely to one another can have contrasting sporting interests.
Looking at the northern states of America compared to Canada, for example, the NFL is by far the most followed sport, while in Canada, ice hockey is the favored sport of the nation.
While the popularity of the NFL is growing in Canada, largely due to wider TV coverage, Canadians have a stronger affinity with ice hockey. Canada is home to 7 NHL teams and the sport originated in Canada, where the cold climate created frozen lakes on which matches were played.
Canada has its own football league, the CFL and many fans follow both the CFL and the NFL. Canada has an estimated 7 million NFL fans. Meanwhile, just the single event of the Super Bowl attracted an average viewing of 127.7m US viewers, of which a significant proportion of viewers were based in the northern states.
However, it is difficult to compare sports popularity on viewership, given that the population of the US is around 340 million, with Canada having a much smaller population of just over 41 million.
Why does NFL popularity differ so much between northern states and Canada?
Sport popularity is largely driven by the history or sports in each region. Ice hockey has been the national sport of Canada for a long time and the country has not only invented the sport, it has become recognized for having the best league in the world.
The country has invested into the sport, with over 8,000 ice rinks created to drive participation in the country. Canada is a prolific nation in Olympics ice hockey, with many medals won in other winter sports such as figure skating, speed skating and curling. Hosting the Winter Olympics in Vancouver 2010 further established the country’s reputation for winter sports prowess and continued to inspire the next generations to follow and participate in these sports.
Over the border, the United States poured a lot of money into developing the NFL since it was founded in 1920 at a meeting in Ohio. It is not just popular in the United States, interest has grown across areas such as Mexico and the UK, with NFL games being hosted in international venues to help increase global viewership.
Teams such as the Dallas Cowboys generate over $1 billion in revenue most years, and the league has become hugely sustainable, with teams affording to build state-of-the-art facilities and pay elite players incredible salaries.
NFL betting trends
In addition to participation levels and TV viewership volumes, another indicator of sporting popularity is how much betting activity it generates. It is estimated that around $30 billion will be wagered in the US on the NFL in 2025, an increase of around 8.5%.
In Canada, the CFL is the third most bet on sport, behind ice hockey and basketball but as the popularity of NFL in Canada is growing, so too is the betting activity on the sport. The sports betting regulations in Canada vary between provinces and before 2021, single game sports betting was illegal. So, the sports betting industry is not as established as it is in many other regions.
It is estimated that the US will generate around $17.23bn in sports betting in 2025, while Canada’s more modest $1.17bn reflects that there is not as big a market, even when you ratio it according to the different sizes of population.
However, Ontario’s sports betting industry has seen significant growth since new regulations came into force to legalize sports betting. Players in Ontario now have a large number of regulated online casinos and sports book operators to use, to place bets on a range of different sports.
NFL betting options
NFL fans in both Canada and the US can bet on the regular NFL season, with each team playing 17 games per season. The season runs from September to January, which is when the play-offs begin.
There are lots of different betting options for NFL betting, from betting on the winner of a specific match to bets on who will score a touchdown and total match points. You can find a wide range of odds and can include bet builds, where you add multiple single bets together to improve the odds.
To summarize, while the northern states and Canada both have large followings for the NFL, Canada’s long-established love for ice hockey prevails, while NFL is the standout most popular sport in the US across most states.
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