American sporting culture is unique. Although every nation has specific nuances within its sporting culture, American sports have a number of differences. Given that the US sports betting market is the largest individual sports betting market in the world, it has resulted in a flurry of companies all vying to make a name for themselves.
This upsurge in competition has opened up the floor to thousands of potential betting markets, including an array of domestic American sports and international sporting competitions.
Betting on the American big leagues
The NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL are the big four in American sports. Soccer has become far more popular over the last decade, and while some might throw in the MLS as an honorary fifth member of this group, the big four are still the most watched and most bet on sports in the US.
In fact, the size of basketball, football, ice hockey, and baseball in the US makes these four organizations make up four of the top five most valuable sporting brands in the world.
As many American states start to lower the barriers to digital sports betting, many prominent names have wasted no time in establishing themselves in these states. They look to get in as early as possible and take the lead against the competition in some key states, where billions of dollars in profit could be at stake.
The best sports betting apps don’t just focus on one or two sports – they branch out and explore the broader field. In a world where digital betting is one of the fastest-growing subsidiary markets in global sports, many of the top US sportsbooks are paying more attention to sports that dominate the market outside the US – like soccer, rugby and horse racing, for instance.
Given that soccer is the world’s most popular sport by quite some distance and is garnering more attention in the buildup to the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, it’s another sport with extensive markets that US bettors can access via their gambling apps.
NFL
DraftKings and other international providers like Bet365, who are also looking to enter the market, are well aware that American football is the golden goose of American sports betting. Many of their adverts on social media and through traditional streams focus predominantly on NFL bonuses and promotions.
Fantasy football is more prominent in the US than many actual sporting leagues, which should indicate how important it is for sports betting apps to corner this market and claim a sizeable portion of it for themselves.
DraftKings is in a prime position, as it’s one of the league’s main betting partners. It also combines its extensive sports betting catalog with Americans’ love for fantasy football. From a betting angle, it offers extensive in-play markets on every NFL game, and outright markets that capture season-end markets, like if you fancy the Chiefs to defend their Super Bowl title.
NBA
While basketball may not be experiencing the golden period in American culture that it did in the 1990s, there appears to be a growing market overseas due to the number of elite players in the league who were born outside of the US. Again, just like the NFL, there are hundreds of individual NBA markets that you can explore in-play or as outright bets.
NHL
Ice hockey has been a surprise beneficiary of the changing attitudes towards gambling across the US and Canada. While it has never reached the heights of the NBA or NFL in the US, the sports betting markets benefit from a heightened interest north of the border, in Canada. This means that sports betting apps like bet365, William Hill, and DraftKings can branch out while offering markets on both sides of the border.
MLB
While baseball has pockets of ardent fans scattered throughout the US, it is also a betting market benefiting from an international audience. Bettors can use sports betting apps to watch some of the lesser-known baseball games, including those in other countries such as Mexico and Japan – two countries where baseball enjoys significant popularity.
Other popular betting markets
As we move away from the big four leagues, US sports bettors can access several other sports via mobile apps. Prominent tournaments include tennis Grand Slams, such as the US Open, which takes place at Flushing Meadows, and many high-profile golf tournaments.
While games like cricket and rugby might not have the same appeal as they do in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa or the UK, you can still find markets for them on US sports betting apps. Cricket, for instance, is the second most-watched sport in the world after soccer.
Therefore, there’s a significant market for cricket betting, which US sports betting apps are also happy to facilitate, even if the demand isn’t as high as it is in other countries such as Australia.
Final thoughts
As the internet allows many sports betting markets to interconnect, all of the top names have apps that span multiple countries and continents. US sports bettors are in a better position, as many of the platforms that are now launching in the domestic market have been able to develop their brands in other countries first.
Bet365, for instance, has been in the UK market for over 20 years and has revolutionized how people place sports bets on their phones or tablets.
Although a US company, DraftKings initially expanded its brand as a fantasy football platform in 2012, before making the executive decision in 2016 to pivot towards sports betting. Once they’d developed a huge pool of football fans, they decided to set their sights on the burgeoning US sports betting market while maintaining the highly popular fantasy football element of their business.
Ultimately, the growth of sports betting apps and the closer ties with international sports have meant there are more markets for US bettors to explore, and this is continuing to fuel competition and innovation within the industry. At the time of writing, you can find over 50 individual professional sports and miscellaneous markets to bet on via US sports betting apps, and this number is likely to continue growing.
