What are the Most Popular Football Leagues to Bet on?

Football is the world’s most popular sport, of that there is no doubt. There are currently over 3 billion fans enjoying football games around the globe, many of whom play the game for fun as well. However, those who don’t enjoy playing the game, enjoy wagering on it.

Football and Betting

Football has a loyal and dedicated betting audience. Estimates put the total amount of money bet on soccer at over 200 billion dollars, worldwide. The online sports betting market has significantly contributed to the popularity of sports betting, and especially football wagers.

For the unaware, online bookies are sites that cover notable sports events, and come out with fair and balanced odds. One of the most notable of these websites is Novibet, a bookie that is famous for its detailed coverage and pretty respectable bonuses.

With online sports betting, many football events have grown in popularity. Which begs the question, what are the most popular football leagues to bet on? In this article, we will answer that very question.

The English Premier League

If we focus on the seasonal leagues that take place every year, then we certainly can’t do a list like this without bringing up the English Premier League. The EPL is England’s top-tier football league, featuring some of the most popular sports clubs worldwide, including Manchester City and Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool.

Of course, it is the most popular sports competition in England, but what makes the EPL special is that it gets attention worldwide. When most people consider getting into football, they don’t look at their own local leagues, but rather turn on the English Premier League instead. Naturally, that means that there is a lot of money that goes into betting on the EPL. To be precise, over 60 billion Euros were wagered on the EPL in 2021/2022. Who knows how much that amount has grown since.

The Spanish La Liga

The Spanish League, known in Spain as the Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Prima, and better known as La Liga to the rest of the world, is the second most popular football league in the world. It is to be expected, as it is the stomping ground of Real Madrid, the club that currently holds the honor of being the most popular football club in the world. Real Madrid’s greatest rivals, Barcelona, are also a staple of the league, and its current champions.

Much like with the Premier League, La Liga attracts fans from all over the world. Which means it attracts bettors from all over the world. Going by the same statistical analysis done in 2022, estimates state that 42 billion Euros were spent on La Liga wagers during the 2021/22 season. Which places La Liga comfortably on the second spot on our list.

Honorable Mentions

The five major European football leagues are all incredibly popular betting events. We already discussed the EPL and the La Liga, but that doesn’t mean that Bundesliga, Serie A, Euro and Ligue 1 are any less popular. All of these leagues see upwards of tens of billions of Euros in wagers every year.