ShareThe 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina delivered the largest U.S. television audience for a Winter Games in more than a decade. Averaging 23.5 million American viewers per day, the event marked a clear resurgence in stateside interest.
There is no single public ledger detailing exactly how much was wagered on the Games. But industry analysts increasingly point to one key driver behind the ratings boost: legalized sports betting.
With 38 states plus Washington, D.C. offering regulated wagering markets, Olympic events are now interactive experiences for millions, with money riding on outcomes from puck drops to podium finishes.
It matters more when there’s money on it
A wager, no matter the size, dramatically changes a fan’s relationship with the sport they’re viewing.
Jim Strode, a scholar from Ohio University, has studied this phenomenon closely and recently produced a report that backs up the theory. His research shows that betting dramatically increases the audience’s emotional investment in the game. If event betting is widespread, it pushes up viewership levels, whether it’s a 100m sprint final or a round robin hockey match.
Mobile sportsbooks, of course, have helped make this change even more smooth. You don’t need to travel anywhere to place your bet anymore: it all happens in real time from your personal device. Did you used to forget when your favorite events were taking place? Not now – app notifications have got your back and even come with special odds or links to other in-play markets.
More states are signing up to new legal frameworks in the light of gambling law changes, which means more sportsbooks and even newest online casinos are extending their Olympic event coverage. The NFL and NBA used to dominate this space, but there’s a new player in town.
Familiar sports attract the biggest betting handle
The Winter Olympic viewer surge has been impressive, but it’s still the most familiar sport that led the way. Betting on the Super Bowl, for example, dwarfs the Olympics, while national favorite ice hockey also outweighs it, despite also being an Olympic sport.
Curling was perhaps the surprise breakthrough of 2026. The reason was probably its straightforward gameplay – simply trying to get stone as central as possible – that made it easy for first-time watchers to understand and thus bet on.
Judged sports tend to fare worse. Figure skating and freestyle skiing come with subjective scoring that not only complicates things but makes them more unpredictable. Bettors don’t like this uncertainty and are drawn to familiar events with measurable outcomes.
That leaves us with niche competitions, like biathlon, skeleton, and luge. These also attract less betting attention as fewer US fans feel confident enough to stake money on those results.
National loyalty shapes wagering behavior
It’s hard to overestimate the effect of home-country bias. American fans lovingly stake their money on Team USA across every Olympic sport, even when their chances to win are extremely low. Emotions count a lot.
You see this a lot in medal-count markets, where people bet on which country will win more medals than another or top the medal table.
Fans rarely wager against their own nation, even when common sense tells them otherwise. That’s why you’ll see an obvious betting pattern when national pride comes into play.
Why the 2028 Summer Games could go further
The 2026 Winter Olympics was the breakthrough event for legalized sports betting in the US, but 2028 may be when it truly takes off.
The Summer Games feature more than three times as many events as the Winter edition, which means more chances to bet on competitions ranging from track and field heats to swimming finals and gymnastics competitions.
Location may also play a part. Its LA location puts its main events right in the middle of prime time for US audiences, who will be able to take full advantage of in-play betting.
Throw in globally popular sports, like basketball and soccer, which already have huge US betting markets, and we might have an explosion – and new records – on our hands.
A new era of Olympic engagement
The Olympics haven't stopped being about athletic greatness. That part isn't going anywhere.
What’s changed is a betting culture that now includes more states, platforms, and events than ever before. More people have a stake on what happens once the starting gun fires, or the referee blows her whistle. Legalization opened the floodgates for operators to transform sports gambling as we know it.
Gamblers will probably stick to the same principles as before – stick with what you know, back to your team, keep it simple – but they’ll also need to be extra cautious that their betting doesn’t become problematic.
By Los Angeles, the relationship between betting and Olympic viewership won't be a trend worth noting. It'll just be how the Games work. The medals still matter most. But for a growing slice of the audience, so does everything ride on them.
