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Betting on USA-Canada Hockey Final “Off the Charts”

DraftKings’ Las Vegas bookmaker Johnny Avello says 4 Nations Face-Off final was the biggest hockey handle they’ve ever had
USA-Canada final draws 9.3 million viewers in the U.S. on ESPN, most watched NHL-sanctioned game in decades
10.7 million people across Canada tuned in Thursday night

The post-tournament numbers and analysis of the NHL’s inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off, with Canada beating the U.S. 3-2 in overtime Thursday night, have been pouring in – just a runaway success for the game.

10.4 Viewers on ESPN

Sportsnet in Canada reported that 10.7 million people across Canada watched the final – a quarter of the country’s population. On ESPN the numbers were even more striking – 9.3 million viewers, with 10.4 million viewers at its peak. It was the largest audience for a non-NFL event on ESPN+.

Listening to some of the most popular national sports commentators, many of whom rarely talk about hockey, weigh in on the tournament’s success and the impact it’s going to have on other pro league all-star gaming planning going forward (we see you NBA, after its All-Star Weekend event with skills competition crapped out with the second lowest TV ratings in 25 years), one wonders how the NHL can bridge the goodwill and buzz generated from the past 10 days into something sustaining.

Smith: Nothing Wrong With Some Hostility

ESPN First Take commentator Stephen A. Smith says “healthy hostility” was at the heart of its success. He said Thursday night he was on a Jet Blue flight heading West and every single TV had the game on.

It’s the same reaction on the sports betting front.

It was the biggest hockey handle we’ve ever had on any single game … it surpassed game seven last year in the NHL playoffs,” said Johnny Avello, the Las Vegas Strip bookmaker, and DraftKings’ Director of Race & Sportsbook Operations.

That brings up an interesting question – how did excitement over a sporting event, with President Donald Trump calling Team USA before the game, all the verbal missiles going back and forth between governments about trade tariffs and Trump calling for Canada to become the 51^st U.S. state, the booing of national anthems, plus the big TV ratings, translate into boffo betting handle?

Avello: Politics Added Fuel to the Fire

“It was a great game for hockey overall, and probably brought some new viewers into the fold,” Avello told Casino.org. “All-star games have been boring for years. It was nice that [the NHL] put a little twist on it. It just so happened that there was political interest that added fuel to the fire. All of that was a good thing for betting.

I’ve said that viewership goes way down if there isn’t action on the game,” he said. “If you have people going forward and making that bet, I think that enhances the whole product, the whole TV experience. I’ve always said that.

In [Thursday night’s] game, there was a lot of viewership, the biggest handle of all time, there had to be a lot of newbies who were involved. They know it’s a big game. They know the game is close to a pick ‘em. They know it’s a final. They know the political rhetoric going on. So why not throw a little bit of money on the game and watch it? That’s going to work well, for us and the league, long term. That game could be a pivotal point with hockey moving forward.”

Big TV Viewership Translates Into Big Betting Handle

Avello says hockey has performed well for the DraftKings sportsbook this year, and they are constantly putting up new markets.

At BetMGM, the USA-Canada final was the most bet hockey event in BetMGM history, 2.5 times as many bets on the final than any other hockey event this season, with five of the top seven most bet hockey events this year being 4 Nations games.

“Canada winning was a good outcome for the sportsbook,” said Halvor Egeland, Trading Manager, BetMGM.

The game was a big story at the Ontario Lottery Corporation’s Proline as well.

“As far as comparing the 4 Nation’s Face-Off to the NBA All Star Weekend, for Proline, it wasn’t much of a competition. As it stands right now the 4-Nations Face-Off has brought in over 10 times what the NBA All-Star festivities did and that is including light bets on tomorrow’s USA/Canada Final,” a Proline trader told us a day before the final Thursday night.

NBA All-Star Format: Ratings Disaster

“Comparing top events from the two sports, sees the first USA/Canada game bringing in 20 times the amount that the ‘Team Chuck versus Team Kenny’ NBA all-star game brought in, so it is clear to see the interest in the hockey tournament,” he said.

According to the Proline trading desk, 79% of Proline players backed Canada to win the championship game, 29% of players took the Under at 5.5, 28% of players predicted the game would go into OT by taking the Draw after Regulation time, and in the tournament futures market, 21% had Nathan MacKinnon as top goal scorer in the tournament.

So best-on-best international hockey takes a break now until next February, with the Milan Winter Olympics, where USA-Canada will renew their hockey hostilities.

“Hey, we can deal with that,” Avello says. “That might even turn out to be the best of all time.”

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