The best Olympics sports betting sites offer some of the most exciting markets during this special event. Partly due to the fact it only comes around once every four years, but also because there are so many different sports mixed into one event. This means that bettors can form really great parlays and multi bets when searching for Olympics’ best bets.
Where To Bet On The Summer Olympics
You can bet on the Olympics at pretty much every sports betting site in Canada. Below, we’ll break down some of the best sportsbooks to bet on the Olympics and the strengths and weaknesses of each one.
Sports Interaction
Founded in 1997, Sports Interaction is one of the oldest sportsbooks in Canada. Its long history has created a huge fanbase of dedicated players, yet it still manages to bring in new sports bettors all the time. Sports Interaction has a good selection of Olympics bets, mostly on gold medal special bets, and a solid betting market for major Olympics sports. It also has a lot of great sports betting features, like early cash out options, live bets, and a comprehensive customer support section.
bet365
bet365 is one of the biggest sportsbooks in the world. Based in the UK, they’ve slowly made their move across the pond in recent years, expanding to Canada and a handful of US states. When it comes to betting on the Olympics, there aren’t many betting sites better than bet365. They’ve led the way by having many Olympics bets available for months ahead of the big tournament. Whether you’re an experienced bettor or someone looking to start betting this summer, bet365 will most likely have the Olympics bets you’re looking for.
Betway
Betway offer bets on over 30 sports year-round. We expect this market to grow even larger once the Olympics gets underway this summer. In Canada, they’ve become well-known for their hockey betting market. That said, live betting is really where Betway shines through. The sportsbook offers sports fans some of the best live odds in Canada, and an easy to navigate platform to boot. Betway is behind the competition when it comes to Olympics futures, but the events are still a few weeks away. Hopefully they will have a lot more available once the games get a little closer as the summer goes on.
Bet99
Bet99 markets itself as the sportsbook made “By Canadians, For Canadians,” but is it a good place to bet on the biggest international sporting event in the world? We think so. The Bet99 betting market has a lot more than just Canadian sports. You can bet on cycling, water polo, handball, table tennis, and loads of other sports that will be at the 2024 summer games. For Olympics betting specifically, Bet99 offers a wide variety of gold medal betting options with competitive odds. As for the downsides, Bet99 customer support could be better and withdrawals are a little on the slow side. Also, the sportsbook was founded in 2022, so it’s got less of a reputation than other well-known sportsbooks. That said, Bet99 has certainly made their mark as one of the best sportsbooks to date in Canada.
Pinnacle
Unlike some of the other sportsbooks we’ve mentioned in this Olympic betting guide, Pinnacle Sportsbook has a relatively-small sports betting site. This is true with betting on the Olympics too. Pinnacle won’t have some of the more niche sports, but it will offer odds on all major events like basketball, tennis, golf, and track and field. While it doesn’t have the biggest betting selection, Pinnacle makes up for it with its Olympics betting odds, among others. The sportsbook consistently has some of the best betting odds in the country and takes a competitively low juice compared to other books.
How To Read Paris 2024 Olympic Betting Lines & Odds
There are 32 sports to bet on at the Paris 2024 Olympics. If you’re going to wager on any of these sports, you need to understand the Olympics betting odds and popular markets. Many of these are similar to other betting lines that you’ve seen in the past but there are some things to keep in mind.
Olympics Moneylines
Moneyline bets are the simplest and most common way to bet on the Olympic tournament. To bet a moneyline bet, just pick which individual athlete or team that you think will win a race, match, or other single event. If your pick wins, you win your bet.
For example, let’s say Canada are playing Team USA in basketball. The moneyline odds could look something like this:
- Canada +220
- USA -300
In the American odds system, which you’ll see at most sportsbooks in Canada, Olympic odds are written as negative and positive numbers. The smaller the number, the bigger the favourite. So, from our example above, the USA are big favourites with -300 odds.
To win $100 betting on the USA, you’d need to bet $300. If you bet $100 on Canada, you’d win $220 if they beat the Americans.
Olympics Over/Under
Over/Under bets, also called totals bets, are wagers on the total number of points, goals, etc. scored in a match. Sportsbooks set a betting line, then you place a wager whether more or less points will be scored in the game.
Totals bets are also really popular futures bets where you can bet on the total number of gold medals a nation will win or will win more gold medals between two countries.
Canada won 7 gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics. Most sports betting sites have put the line for this years gold medals total at 5.5, so you’ll probably see Canada’s medal count odds looking something like:
- OVER 5.5 -133
- UNDER 5.5 -105
Olympics Prop Bets
Prop bets are bets on some aspect of an event that are not related to the outcome. Typically, prop bets are bets on how individual athletes will perform. Props bets can also be on an entire team too though.
One common prop bet sports bettors are familiar with is points in basketball. A bet on Jamal Murray to score more than 20 points in a game is a prop bet. Soccer prop bets are also very popular. Goal scoring props, for example, are bets on whether a player will score a goal in a match.
Olympics Parlays
Parlay bets are essentially combined bets. For example, you could place a bet on the winner of the 100m and 200m races on one betslip. Getting two bets right is tougher than picking one, so parlay bets payout more than wagers on individual athletes or single events. They are riskier though, so keep that in mind before you start building huge, multi-leg parlays.
Track and field are common events for parlay bettors to wager on since many gold medal events are staged on the same day. Races usually have solid favourites too, so betting money on more than one is a good way to increase the odds.
Olympics Live Betting
From the lighting of the Olympic Flame to the closing ceremonies, the Paris 2024 summer games will take place over the course of about two and a half weeks. This means the games will be going on almost constantly. Live betting allows you to place your wagers while the events are going on.
Live betting is most popular for sporting events that take a while to compete, like basketball games and golf tournaments. You can bet on potential gold medal winners, over/under, and much more while the action is taking place.
Olympics Spread Betting
Spread betting is betting on the margin of victory. Sportsbooks give you point spreads and you bet whether the margin of victory will be within or greater than the spread. For example, if Team Canada is -5.5 favourites in a game, they need to win by more than 6 points to win “against the spread.”
Betting against the spread is one of the most popular ways to bet on sports. It’s a little less popular at the Olympics due to the nature of many Olympic sporting events. However, you can still find plenty of chances to bet on point spreads with basketball, soccer, field hockey, and other popular sports.
Olympics Futures Odds
Futures bets, or futures, are bets on the outcome of any event larger than one match. Bets on which nation will win the most gold medals are probably the most popular Olympics bets. The US have won the most gold medals at every Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Given their history, the US are huge favourites to win the most gold medals at Paris 2024. Most Olympics betting sites give them -850 odds to win. That means you would have to bet $85 to win just $10.
Behind the US, China comes in second with +400 odds. Everyone else is a major longshot. France and Great Britain are tied for third in the most gold medals Olympics odds list with +8000 odds.
Summer Olympic Sports You Can Bet On
Thousands of athletes will don their national flag and be fighting to bring home gold for their countries this summer. You can bet on pretty much all of them here in Canada.
Basketball
Team USA’s dominance in basketball might finally be coming to an end. The Americans finished fourth at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines next year, losing to Team Canada in the third place game.
Both Team USA and Team Canada will bring better squads to Paris 2023 and are major contenders to bring home gold medals. If you look at the Olympics odds though, the US are the only team with a chance of winning gold. The US are -357 favourites to win the tournament. The next best team, Serbia, are listed at +800.
Soccer
Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. At the Olympics though, it is a bit of an afterthought. The men’s tournament is just for under-23 players. Women of all ages take part in the women’s tournament, but it’s a second tier competition behind the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The Canadian women’s national team won gold at Tokyo 2020. They’re longshots to repeat as champions in 2024 with just +1100 odds. Despite their lacklustre performances at the last Olympics and Women’s World Cup, the USWNT are favourites to win the women’s tournament with +180 odds. For the men, France, Argentina, and Spain are neck-and-neck in most Olympics betting odds lists.
Tennis
Tennis at Parris 2024 will take place at the French Open’s normal venue, the Stade Roland Garros in the 16th arrondissement. It will be the first clay playing surface since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. It’s the first natural playing surface since London 2012. Five golds will be up for grabs in the men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz is the favourite to win the men’s singles with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic close behind. Poland’s Iga Swiatek is the huge favourite to be the gold medal winning athlete on the women’s singles side. If not Swiatek, the betting sites like Belarusian star Aryna Sabalenka and the American Coco Gauff.
Golf
Golf made its return to the Olympic games at Rio 2016 after an over 100-year absence from the world’s biggest stage. Great Britain and South Korea took home gold in Brazil in 2016. However, the US dominated 2020, winning both golds.
The Americans also lead the all-time gold medal table with four more golds than the next best nation. Xander Schauffele, who won gold in 2020, is the favourite to win in Paris this summer. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are other contenders for the men’s competition. The women’s 2020 winner, American Nelly Korda, is also favoured to win again this year.
Track and Field
Track and field are the oldest and most popular Olympic sports. Every four years, athletes become global superstars. That’s part of the reason it’s such a hit with sports bettors. Another is the instant action. Races like the 100m and 200m are over in less than a minute. Relay races are full of drama when the baton is handed off mid race. Even longer races and field events are full of action down the stretch.
Noah Lyles is the big name to watch heading into Paris 2024. The 26-year-old American won bronze in the 200m at Tokyo 2020. Since then, he won gold medals in the the 100m and 200m at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest. Paris 2024 could be where he wins his first Olympic gold medal.
Field Hockey
Despite their dominance in the all-time ice hockey gold medal table in the Winter Olympics, Canada have never won a medal in field hockey at the summer games. For the first time since London 2012, neither the men or women have qualified for this year’s games. That doesn’t mean it’s not a popular Olympic sport to bet on in Canada.
At +300, Belgium come into Paris 2024 as the favourites to win gold, but the Olympics odds are very tight. The Netherlands, Australia, and Germany are all very close behind with +325 odds.
Olympics Betting FAQs
We’ve covered a lot in this Olympic betting guide. Just in case anything’s still unclear, here are some commonly asked questions about Olympics betting.
The USA is the team that has won the most medals of all time, with a total of 1022 medals.
Yes, Olympics betting is completely legal in Canada. Parliament legalised sports betting in August 2021, meaning you can legally bet on the Olympics and other sports in Canada.
You can bet on every single Olympic sport. The most popular summer Olympic sports for sports bettors in Canada are basketball, soccer, tennis, and golf.
The fastest sprinter of all time is Jamaica’s Usain Bolt. However, at the moment is the USA’s, Justin Gatlin.
Yes, certainly. The reason Olympics betting is so popular is that it includes all the nations of the world and a range of top sports.
The best sportsbook for Olympic betting depends almost entirely on the bettor, as with each bettor there are different preferences. We would highly recommend searching our list of top bookmakers.
You must certainly can. As with any odds market, depending on the stake you place will depend on how much money you can make.
