Best Sports To Bet On in 2023

• Professional sports are often more popular sports to bet on, but college sports offer more betting opportunities across a single season.
• Baseball offers the highest number of betting opportunities thanks to a long season of multi-game series for each team.
• There is a big sporting event practically every month, so you can take advantage of lucrative betting opportunities all year.

Many states, like New Jersey, allow you to place bets on multiple sporting events throughout the year. You can even wager on professional, collegiate, and international sports. But there are so many sports to choose from, not to mention the exciting annual championships and other pivotal events in each season.

Explore the seven best sports to bet on this year and which events to put on your calendar for great viewing and great gambling.

7 Top Sports To Bet On

Online sportsbooks in New Jersey let you pick from dozens of sports and thousands of games played each year. Here are our top picks for sports to bet on this year:

1. Professional Football

The NFL has 32 teams across eight divisions. Each team plays 17 games over 18 weeks, for 272 total games during September to January. That’s 272 chances to bet and win — though you can wager on more than just the winner. The NFL has plenty of lucrative types of sports bets, like single-game parlays, spreads, futures; division, conference, and league championships; and end-of-season player picks, too, like Super Bowl MVP.

2. College Football

While there are more than 800 college football teams, most bettors will spend their time watching and wagering on Division I (D1) teams, of which there are 131 teams; each team plays 12 regular season games with the chance to compete in conference championships and bowl games. College football plays August to December with bowl games and championships continuing into January.

3. Professional Basketball

The NBA regular season is from October to April. Each of the 30 NBA teams plays 82 games each regular season, so there are so many more betting opportunities in this sport than for football. You can wager on games throughout the week with bets for unique parlays, spreads, overtime calls, and winning margins. You can also make futures bets on the division championships and NBA Finals, plus player bets including Regular Season MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Most Improved Player of the Year.

Many online sportsbooks in New Jersey also allow betting on international basketball leagues, such as in Europe and Asia. Some also have wagers for the WNBA for fans of women’s basketball.

4. College Basketball

You get 10 times the betting availability with NCAA men’s basketball. There are more than 350 college basketball teams across 32 divisions. And you’ll have at least one game to bet on every day if you’re looking to maximize your wagers. Plus, betting on college basketball doesn’t really ramp up until the spring around March Madness. November and December are popular for pro and college football, so there are fewer people taking advantage of these wagering opportunities.

5. Baseball

MLB has even more wagering opportunities than football or basketball. There are 30 teams that each play 162 games each season. And they play for a long time — Spring Training takes place in February, the regular season officially starts in March, and teams play until October.

Much of the gameplay is a match-up between a pitcher and multiple batters on the opposite team. That makes for a lot of data on each player — such as batting average, runs, strike outs, homers — you can apply to your betting. You can even listen to a sports betting podcast to get fresh info on the rundown.

Lastly, underdogs are statistically more likely to win in baseball than in any other professional sport, so if you love to root for the little guy and win money doing it, baseball might be for you.

6. Hockey

The NHL has each of its 32 teams play 82 games from October to April, making for a decent number of betting opportunities.

NHL teams operate within a small margin of one another — it’s incredibly hard to score, with previous seasons averaging less than three goals per game. That’s why “puck line” or “goal line” bets (interchangeable terms) and over/under bets are so popular for this sport. Simply betting on the winner may not be very lucrative. In fact, hockey is another sport in which underdogs are likely to win.

7. Tennis

This international sport is played all year round across the world, so you can wager all year round, too. You can bet on individual players going head to head or duo teams. Either way, like with baseball, the nature of the game allows for you to more easily review statistics and make informed decisions on your wagers. Bets include moneylines (i.e. the winner), game spreads (how many games each player wins), and set spreads (how many sets they win in a match). There are futures betting on tournament winners, too.

Can’t Miss Sporting Events To Bet On

There’s always an exciting sporting event coming up, no matter the month. Mark your calendars for these nine sporting events:

• Super Bowl – February: This is the grand finale of the NFL season featuring one team from each conference going head to head. Lucky, savvy bettors have won thousands of dollars on predicting the winner.
• March Madness – March-April: You might have a March Madness bracket pool with your co-workers, family, or friends. But you can also bet on the winners for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four and Championship games at an online sportsbook in New Jersey.
• Kentucky Derby – May: Horse racing is one of the most popular and lucrative sports to wager on, and the Kentucky Derby is one in the Triple Crown series — so don’t forget to place your wagers in May.
• NBA Finals – June: Watch eight teams get whittled down to two teams, which then face off in the Finals, a best of seven series. That means you could have seven opportunities to bet on the winner of each game and the ultimate champ.
• Stanley Cup Finals – June: The NHL championships can be pretty unpredictable — not unlike every hockey game. In 2019, a bettor won $100,000 on a $400 bet that the St. Louis Blues would win … and they both won big.
• U.S. Open – August-September: The U.S. Open is the last in the Grand Slam tournament series, and it’s one of the most popular tennis events among spectators and bettors in New Jersey.
• World Series – October-November: The grand finale of many months of baseball can be incredibly lucrative, especially for rich and savvy bettors like Mattress Mack, who netted millions in 2022.

Where Can I Bet On Sports in New Jersey?

DraftKings and FanDuel are two of the most popular sports betting platforms in the country, and they’re both legal in New Jersey. You can also place your bets at two of your favorite online casinos in New Jersey that offer sportsbooks — BetMGM and Caesars.
Check out our reviews of the best legal online sportsbooks in New Jersey to see where you can place bets on your favorite sports.