Dominant U.S. basketball teams drives Olympics betting action

Betting on the 2024 Olympics has surged, with basketball and women’s soccer driving significant betting handle and fan engagement.

Heading into the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, there was uncertainty surrounding how the Olympics would translate into betting handle. This is still a new world for most operators, who are learning on the fly. 

Since PASPA was repealed in 2018, the three Olympic games that have taken place were held on the other side of the world. The 2018 Winter Games were in Pyeongchang, the 2020 Summer Games were in Tokyo, and the 2022 Winter Games took place in Beijing. Mixed into most of that timeline was the disruption of the entire world caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When you combine locations, time zones and the global pandemic, you can argue that the United States hasn’t had an easy Olympics to bet on since most of the country legalized online sports betting. Though Paris is six hours ahead of the East Coast of the United States, that shift is much more manageable than the 12-13 hour differences that the three previous Olympic games presented. 

Despite that, operators were worried. The Olympics aren’t always the easiest to watch live, as much of the programming is on tape delay and a lot of live action is on paywalled streaming services. The competitions start in the middle of the night U.S. time. There are no live events going on during the normal, prime sports viewing hours for Americans. 

Skeptics also wondered whether there would be an appetite to bet on the numerous sports in the Olympics which receive little to no attention during non-Olympic discourse. Sure, someone might watch a niche sport out of curiosity, but betting on it may be another story. 

Basketball leads the way

Thankfully for operators, bettors love basketball. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s the NBA, college basketball or even the Olympics. Both mens and women’s basketball have garnered substantial betting handles over the first week of the Olympic Games. 

To help matters, the United States is a sizable favorite to win gold on both the men’s and women’s sides. The men are -600 favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook, while the women are even more prohibitive -2000 favorites to take home the gold medal. 

The United States men’s team is loaded with NBA superstars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum, to name a few. It’s a great opportunity to watch some of the game’s top talent in what would usually be an extremely quiet part of the basketball calendar. 

Helping matters for betting action on the men’s side is that quite a few countries have notable NBA players on their rosters. You don’t need to watch the United States play to see elite talent. Stars such as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama are all participating.

On the women’s side, the United States roster features big names such as A’Ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Brittney Griner. While Caitlin Clark and other notable names were excluded from the roster, there’s plenty of recognizable players for basketball fans to invest in. 

Women’s soccer leads rest of the pack

While basketball is doing a tremendous job leading the way in generating betting handle for the Summer Olympics, it’s certainly not alone. 

The United States women’s soccer team is the most successful team in the history of women’s soccer. They’ve won six medals (four golds) in seven Olympic appearances. They are slightly behind Spain to win gold in 2024, at +160 compared to Spain’s +150.

Whether it’s sticking to basketball or dabbling into other sports, the betting action on the Paris Olympics has been a pleasant surprise for operators.