The United States and Canada produced two riveting games in the 4 Nations Face-Off international hockey tournament.
Canada’s 3-2 overtime win over the U.S. in the championship game Thursday in Boston also produced record betting on hockey at sportsbooks.
“The 4 Nations tournament was a great success for BetMGM,” BetMGM trading manager Halvor Egeland said Friday in an email. “The USA-Canada final was not only the most bet (tickets) hockey event this season but the most bet in BetMGM history.”
There were 2½ times as many bets on the USA-Canada final at BetMGM, which launched in 2018, than on any other hockey event this season, including Canada’s 3-1 loss to the U.S. in the round-robin portion of the tournament Saturday in Montreal.
The final ranks second all time in total bets placed on a hockey event at Caesars Sportsbook, behind Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers.
The betting handle, or amount wagered, also was up substantially at Station Sports and the Westgate SuperBook, where the USA-Canada clashes generated more action than Golden Knights games and Stanley Cup Final games that didn’t include the Knights.
“It was incredible,” SuperBook vice president of risk Jeff Sherman said. “The two USA-Canada games were on par with an average NFL game handle. Other games were on par with average NHL game.”
Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said the handle and crowds in the book were tremendous for the event, which replaced the NHL All-Star Game.
“The atmosphere was really cool, especially with USA and Canada meeting in the final,” he said. “The crowd in the room was definitely rooting for the U.S., and when they scored their first goal to tie it up, it was really loud. You could hear it back in the office.
“I hope they do stuff like this more often. It was received really well from everybody.”
Canada opened as a +135 favorite at BetMGM to win the tournament, and the U.S. was the +175 second choice.
The U.S. closed as a -115 favorite over Canada (-105) in the final, and the total was 5½.
“It was bet like a Game 7. Lots of under money,” Sherman said. “But we needed Canada, as we saw more USA support.”
Canada winning also was a good outcome for BetMGM and Station.
The game was tied 1-1 after the first period and 2-2 after the second. Connor McDavid scored 8:18 into overtime as Canada won its fourth consecutive best-on-best international tournament.
At Caesars, the game attracted more than twice as many customers, bets and total amount wagered than any NHL game this season.
“A Game 7 atmosphere and style of play is what we anticipated, and it was exactly what we got in every which way,” Caesars head of hockey Karry Shreeve said in an email. “Customers were all over the USA out of the gates, especially when they went down 1-0 and were around +150 to bet on to win.
“Anytime goal scorer saw record handle, and customers were rewarded when McDavid scored the game winner in overtime. The betting only ramped up when the game did go to OT, proving everyone was locked in until the very end.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
