Canada’s sports-betting market has expanded rapidly since single-event wagering became legal in August 2021, but participation remains far from evenly divided.
Recent national data indicates that 12.1% of Canadian men bet on sports, compared with 3.9% of women. That makes men just over three times as likely to participate. The difference is much wider than Canada’s overall gambling gender gap, suggesting that something about the way sports betting is packaged, promoted and discussed continues to appeal disproportionately to male customers.
Sports Betting Is Built Around Male Audiences
The most immediate explanation is sports consumption. Men are generally more likely to follow major professional leagues intensively, watch complete games and engage with statistics, fantasy contests and sports media.
These behaviors place them directly inside the industry’s acquisition funnel. Betting odds now appear during broadcasts, on sports websites, in podcasts and across social media. A fan checking an NHL lineup or NFL injury report can encounter multiple betting prompts before the game begins.
The NHL remains Canada’s most popular betting league, while the NFL is also a major driver of activity. Both have traditionally attracted predominantly male audiences, allowing sportsbooks to target large groups of potential customers without explicitly designing male-only campaigns.
This helps explain why the divide is much less pronounced elsewhere in gambling. Overall monthly participation has been estimated at 63% among Canadian men and 57% among women. Sports betting’s three-to-one split is therefore not simply evidence that men gamble more. It points to the culture surrounding the product.
Casino gaming may be less one-sided, Casino.ca’s coverage of online casinos Canada includes plenty of female experts discussing providers, games and payment options, reflecting a broader audience than the typical sportsbook conversation. Casino products also cover slots, live tables, bingo-style games and instant-win formats rather than requiring an interest in a particular league.
Competition and Confidence Matter
Sports betting gives customers the impression that knowledge can influence the result. Understanding team form, player availability and coaching tactics can make a wager feel like a test of judgment rather than a game of chance.
That perception may be especially attractive to customers motivated by competition. Research into gambling behavior consistently finds that men are more likely to participate in competitive, strategic and risk-oriented activities such as sports betting and poker.
Most bettors are not as confident as the marketing sometimes implies. In a 2026 Canadian survey, 57% of sports bettors named making money as a reason for participating, while 51% cited entertainment and 34% said betting made games more exciting. Only 11% believed their knowledge provided a competitive advantage.
The numbers expose an important contradiction. Financial motivation is widespread, but relatively few bettors genuinely believe they possess an edge.
Advertising Reinforces the Existing Audience
Sportsbook marketing frequently relies on language associated with expertise, rivalry and winning. Odds boosts, same-game parlays and live markets are presented as tools that knowledgeable fans can use to demonstrate insight.
The imagery often follows the same pattern. Advertisements built around male athletes, commentators and groups of friends watching sports can unintentionally signal who the product is for.
Regulators have intervened. Ontario prohibits athletes and celebrities likely to appeal to minors from appearing in gambling advertising, except when promoting responsible gambling. Public advertising of bonuses and inducements is also restricted.
Those measures reduce some of the most aggressive promotional tactics, but they do not change the wider betting environment. Odds remain integrated into sports broadcasts and digital coverage, where the audience already skews male.
Awareness has also been uneven. Shortly after Ontario’s regulated market opened, one survey found that 57% of male respondents knew about the new system, compared with only 34% of women. Marketing was reaching the group already most likely to bet.
Age Makes the Divide Wider
The gender gap is particularly visible among younger adults. More than one in five Canadian men under 55 reported placing a sports bet during the previous year in a 2026 survey.
Across the adult population, 13% of Canadians had bet on sports, with Ontario recording the highest provincial participation at 15%. British Columbia and Alberta followed at 14%, while Atlantic Canada stood at 8%.
Income also affected participation. The rate reached 19% among people living in households earning more than C$200,000. Young and middle-aged men with disposable income therefore form an especially valuable segment for operators.
The spending involved is not always small. Although 57% of bettors said their largest wager during the previous six months was C$50 or less, 21% had placed at least one bet of C$100 or more, while 5% had wagered over C$500.
Closing the Gap Is Not Automatically Progress
Sportsbooks could attract more women through different sports, less confrontational advertising and products centered on entertainment rather than claims of expertise. The growth of women’s hockey, soccer and basketball provides obvious opportunities.
However, equal participation should not become a regulatory target. A narrower gap created by encouraging more people to gamble would not necessarily represent a positive social outcome.
The better objective is equal representation in research, product testing and harm prevention. Men may be more likely to place sports bets, but women can experience different pathways into harmful gambling and may be overlooked by services designed around the stereotypical male bettor.
Canada’s gender gap is ultimately the product of sports audiences, advertising choices and long-established social behavior. It may narrow as women’s sports grow and gambling brands broaden their messaging, but greater inclusion must be accompanied by equally inclusive consumer protections.
