Americans celebrated wildly when Team USA captured gold against the Canadian ice hockey team, but sportsbooks in the States took a beating while those in Ontario made a pretty penny on the patriotic wagers.
Team USA Pulls the Upset
Team USA dominated the ice at the Winter Olympics with the men’s and women’s teams both defeating their adversaries from the Great White North in the finals and bringing home the gold.
The wagers were particularly partisan, with Americans and Canadians betting with their hearts, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of bets on Team USA among Americans and on Team Canada among those in Ontario.
DraftKings reported that the USA-Canada men’s final was one of the platform’s most bet hockey games, while FanDuel announced that over two-thirds of the moneyline wagers were on Team USA, despite their underdog status.
Team Canada entered the Olympics as the favorite to win gold, with Team USA a relatively close second choice. Therefore, it was not surprising that Canada was installed as a -125 moneyline favorite while the United States was a +105 underdog in Sunday morning’s gold medal finale.
The hype train leading up to the game was in overdrive, as Team USA had not won a gold medal in men’s ice hockey since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, a period spanning over 45 years. Team Canada boasted two of the best players in the world, with Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon striking fear into the hearts of opposing defenses, while captain Sidney Crosby was sidelined with an injury he suffered during the second period of the men’s playoff quarterfinal game against Czechia.
Mixed Emotions
Sportsbooks in Ontario were rooting for the Americans because of the deluge of partisan bets on Team Canada. BET99, a popular sportsbook in Ontario, reported that it had a significant liability leading up to the gold medal game, with many Canadian bettors taking advantage of odds boosts and futures on Team Canada.
BET99 Sportsbook manager Cliff Adelman stated, “That exposure only grew when Canada went down a goal early, and bettors jumped on inflated in-play prices that topped out at +200 before (Cale) Makar evened the score at 1-1. Unsurprisingly, Canadian pride showed at the betting window. From puck drop to Jack Hughes’ OT dagger, 95% of live bets backed Canada to win.”
Considering all the Team Canada money and the emotional connection, BET99 had mixed feelings about rooting for the hometown team. This put the company in a rather precarious position.
“While the BET99 trading team sported Team Canada jerseys and shared the same tension as our players with every missed opportunity, the final result brought a welcome sigh of relief from a (profit-and-loss) perspective,”
Adelman said. “It was a classic case of patriotic money pouring in and a reminder that when Canada plays for gold, the betting action follows.”
