Ontarians wagered C$98.3 billion through the province’s regulated iGaming market in calendar 2025, with sports betting accounting for C$11.4 billion in handle during the 2024-25 fiscal year. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, fresh off back-to-back NBA MVPs and a Thunder championship, has overtaken Connor McDavid as the most-wagered Canadian athlete. The list of homegrown names drawing real volume runs deep, from hockey icons to PGA Tour golfers to a tennis star ranked fourth in the world.
What Makes an Athlete Popular Among Canadian Bettors?
Canadian bettors gravitate towards the names they watch every night. Two factors decide who tops any most-wagered list among the top Canadian athletes: media exposure and the depth of available markets.
Media Exposure and Star Power
Athletes who appear on Hockey Night in Canada, TSN highlights, and national NBA broadcasts collect more tickets than equally talented peers in smaller markets.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, born in Toronto and raised in Hamilton, became the first back-to-back NBA MVP since Nikola Jokić (2021 and 2022) when he won the 2025-26 award. Connor McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers captain from Richmond Hill, recorded 138 points to win his sixth Art Ross Trophy in 2025-26, tying Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux for second-most behind Wayne Gretzky.
Betting Markets and Availability
A star is only as bet-on as the markets bookmakers list. Top NBA and NHL players draw deep menus of moneylines, spreads, totals, props, parlays, and futures. Liquidity climbs when stars attract attention, allowing sportsbooks to post sharper pricing and broader prop selections.
Ranking Canada’s Most-Wagered Athletes
Operator reports and futures market liquidity point to a clear hierarchy. Sportsbooks list NBA and NHL games as their highest-handle events, and the four categories below cover the bulk of Canadian betting money among the best Canadian athletes today.
NBA Stars and the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Effect
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sits at the top. He averaged 31.1 points in 2025-26 on 55.3% shooting, led the Thunder to a 64-18 record, and won his second straight MVP. His four-year $285 million contract extension, signed in July 2025, cemented his marquee status.
Jamal Murray of Kitchener draws futures action with the Denver Nuggets, while Andrew Wiggins, RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, and Bennedict Mathurin round out a Canadian contingent across every contending roster.
NHL Icons and Hockey Betting Favourites
McDavid dominates hockey prop markets among Canadian bettors. He scored 48 goals and added 90 assists in 2025-26, won the Ted Lindsay Award for the fifth time, and signed a two-year extension at a $12.5 million cap hit.
Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche won his first Rocket Richard Trophy, and Avalanche teammate Cale Makar of Calgary again featured in Norris Trophy markets. Sidney Crosby set a Canadian record with 16 career Olympic points at Milan-Cortina 2026. Mitch Marner of Thornhill draws prop volume following his July 2025 sign-and-trade to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Other popular wagering targets include Brayden Point of Calgary with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Sam Reinhart of West Vancouver with the Florida Panthers.
Tennis, Golf, and Individual-Sport Standouts
Individual sports concentrate Canadian betting interest into futures and head-to-head markets. Félix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal reached a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 4 on June 8, 2026, after a French Open quarterfinal run. Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, and rising star Victoria Mboko anchor the women’s side.
On the PGA Tour, Corey Conners of Listowel ranks as Canada’s top golfer, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor produce head-to-head betting interest, and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls remains Canada’s most decorated LPGA Tour golfer with 14 career wins. This depth makes Canadian female athletes a serious betting category in their own right.
Olympic Athletes Driving Seasonal Betting Interest
The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics produced the biggest Olympic betting surge in Canadian history. Team Canada won 21 medals. NHL players returned to the Olympics for the first time since Sochi 2014, and McDavid set a single-tournament record with 13 points en route to MVP honours.
Mikaël Kingsbury of Deux-Montagnes won gold in the debut men’s dual moguls event, securing the fifth Olympic medal of his career.
Canada’s men’s and women’s hockey teams each lost 2-1 in overtime to the United States in their respective gold medal games, with Cale Makar scoring in the men’s final.
Why Some Athletes Attract More Bets Than Others
A clear set of factors explains why a handful of famous Canadian athletes anchor most slips.
National Pride and Homegrown Talent
Canadian bettors back Canadian players. When McDavid scored the 4 Nations Face-Off overtime winner against the United States in February 2025, betting volume jumped across both Canadian and American books. Sportsbooks shade lines accordingly.
Consistent Performance and Statistical Reliability
The greatest Canadian athletes in the current era produce on schedule. Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged at least 30 points for four straight seasons, McDavid has six consecutive 100-point seasons, and Makar leads all defencemen in scoring year after year. Probability models built by sharp bettors lean on this reliability, and recreational bettors follow, which lets bookmakers raise the juice.
Social Media Influence and Public Attention
Hype amplifies betting volume. A hot streak or an MVP race builds narrative around a player, and narrative draws bet slips. A famous Canadian athlete of this generation commands social followings that shift lines independent of underlying probability.
How Sports Affect Betting Volume
Hockey carries the deepest cultural roots, basketball has the fastest growth, and Olympic events create short seasonal spikes.
Hockey’s Traditional Dominance
Hockey remains the country’s most popular betting sport among a broad segment of Canadian bettors. iGaming Ontario credits hockey alongside basketball, football, soccer, and baseball for driving the 23% year-over-year growth in sports betting revenue for the 2024-25 fiscal year, when sports betting handle reached C$11.4 billion. Stanley Cup futures rank among the most popular annual wagers in Canada.
The Growth of Basketball Betting
The Thunder’s title run with a Canadian MVP at the centre has lifted NBA props and futures volumes through 2025-26. NBA games offer dense prop markets, including same-game parlays, and analytics-driven projection models are now mainstream across NBA wagering.
International Events and Olympic Surges
Big tournaments create spikes. The Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, the 4 Nations Face-Off, and the Toronto Blue Jays’ run to the 2025 World Series all drew casual money. These surges bring in less experienced bettors who lean on narrative rather than handicapping.
Are Canada’s Most-Bet Athletes Also the Best Betting Picks?
The most-wagered athlete is rarely the most profitable, because public money moves the line first.
Popularity vs Betting Value
Sportsbooks shade lines toward popular sides. A favourite should be priced at -130 may open at -140 because the operator expects heavy public action.
Gilgeous-Alexander closed the 2025-26 MVP race as an enormous favourite, which means the win paid out with minimal return. Long-shot challengers and overlooked props hold the value, because the overround eats more of the favourite’s payout.
The Risks of Following Public Opinion
Backing every popular play is a slow leak. Reverse line movement signals that sharp money sits on the other side. In golf, variance is enormous over any single tournament, and even Conners is a long shot against the full field. Betting the famous name without checking the closing line is the most common path to long-term losses.
How Canadian Sports Stars Influence Betting Trends
Canadian stars do not just receive bets; they reshape the markets sportsbooks build.
Player Props and Individual Markets
Props are the fastest-growing segment of Canadian wagering. “McDavid points over 1.5,” “Gilgeous-Alexander over 28.5,” “Marner to register an assist” appear on bet slips every night. Heavier action on the obvious over forces the price to shade against the popular side.
Future Bets, Awards, and Special Markets
Futures reward early positioning before the hype builds. Stanley Cup, NBA championship, MVP, Hart, Norris, and Canadian athlete of the year markets all feature heavy action on famous Canadian athletes. Summer McIntosh’s 2024 Northern Star Award after her Paris triple gold confirmed swimming as a regular fixture in athlete-of-the-year speculation.
Responsible Gambling
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If gambling stops being fun or starts affecting your finances, relationships, or wellbeing, seek help immediately.
Support available across Canada:
- Responsible Gambling Council: responsiblegambling.org (national resource centre)
- British Columbia: Call 1-888-795-6111 (24/7)
- Alberta: Call 1-866-332-2322 (24/7)
- Quebec: Call 1-800-461-0140 (24/7, bilingual)
- Saskatchewan: Call 1-800-306-6789 (24/7)
- Manitoba: Call 1-800-463-1554 (24/7)
- Atlantic provinces: Call 1-800-461-1234 (NB), 1-888-429-8167 (NS), 1-855-255-4255 (PE), 1-888-899-4357 (NL)
- Additional support: Gambling Therapy (gamblingtherapy.org), Gamblers Anonymous (gamblersanonymous.org)
- 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 988
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FAQ
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