It is no secret that New Zealanders are fond of their sport. From cricket to rugby, basketball to tennis and just about everything in-between, a good sports match always draws thousands of spectators and millions of viewers. But as much as we love watching sport, we also love betting on the outcome. Sports betting in New Zealand is one of the biggest gambling markets in the country. But what do punters bet on? We take a look at some of the most popular betting sports in New Zealand.
Rugby Betting
Of all the sports in New Zealand, rugby is certainly one of the most exciting. This fast paced, action-packed team sport is one of the few contact sports that draws the most crowds. There are two types of rugby played in New Zealand, namely rugby union and rugby league. Union rugby is the slower version of the game where the All Blacks compete internationally. Rugby union is a faster game with domestic games and the NRL dominating the sport. In both cases, rugby bets include basic win bets as well as exotic bets.
Cricket Betting
Cricket is another sport that dominates the New Zealand sporting headlines. It is also one of the biggest betting sports in New Zealand and Australia. Cricket is played both domestically and internationally with the Black Caps being the national team. There are three types of cricket games to bet on, namely the 5-day test matches, the One Day Internationals (ODI) or the T20 matches. Of these, the T20 matches tend to generate the most bets as the games are quicker with a lot more action squeezed into each match. Cricket betting is extremely dynamic with a wealth of betting opportunities in each game from straight win bets to multiple exotic bets.
Racing Betting
Horse racing, greyhound racing NZ events and any form of racing betting is probably the most consistent and largest of all the betting markets in New Zealand. Horse racing provides punters with multiple betting opportunities with fixed odds and pari-mutuel betting. The excitement of a major horse race can be felt weeks before the race has even been run. The betting can be as simple as picking the winner or placing multi bets on multiple races and even picking the first three places in three consecutive races. The payouts in horse racing can be extremely rewarding.
NBA, NFL and Soccer
In the international sporting arena, New Zealanders have lots of betting preferences. In the sport of basketball, the NBA is certainly one of the biggest betting markets in the country. With games just about every week, NBA betting brings in thousands of bets each day. This is also the case for American football and NFL betting. While the sport is not played in New Zealand, the NFL is one of the most popular sports anywhere in the world. If there is one sport which New Zealanders love it is soccer or football. Soccer betting is massive in New Zealand with punters betting on everything from the English Premier league to local games and the FIFA World Cup.
