The “2025-2026 Consumer Report on NFL Wagering Intentions” survey by Optimove reported that 77% of bettors polled plan to wager on the 2025-26 NFL season, though 63% admitted they have in the past spent more money than they could afford on betting.
Optimove surveyed 425 Americans over the age of 21 who bet on NFL football. While all respondents have bet in the past, the 2025 survey — released Thursday — asked respondents to focus primarily on their expected behavior for the upcoming NFL season.
The report predicted strong engagement from bettors for the season ahead, with 82% of those who expect to bet saying they’ll continue to wager throughout the season, regardless of outcomes for the team they root for. Sixty-three percent of bettors said they plan to bet on one or more games per week.
Nearly all bettors, 92%, say they are aware of responsible gambling resources, and 86% say the sportsbook(s) they use offers those resources. Although over half of bettors say they have been known to spend more than they intended to, most bettors have a budget. Most of the NFL bettors surveyed indicated they wager between $11 and $100 per game.
Forty-two percent of respondents claimed betting significantly increases overall enjoyment and engagement with the NFL, while 44% answered “yes, to some extent” on that question.
Sixty-three percent of respondents said they already placed bets for the upcoming football season. Eighty-three percent of bettors expecting to bet on the Super Bowl indicated they plan to make bets no matter what teams play.
Using patterns for marketing
Forty-eight percent of bettors surveyed said they prefer placing pre-game bets, 31% prefer live bets, and 21% don’t strongly prefer one over the other.
Over half of bettors said their primary influence in placing bets is players’ performance, followed by point spreads and team loyalty. Operators can reference these behavior patterns in marketing techniques.
“Operators can use these insights to prioritize pre-game bets, budget-awareness messaging, channel preferences, and user-centric promotions that align with behavioral shifts and loyalty patterns,” the survey analyzed.
NFL betting is largely moving online, and DraftKings and FanDuel are the two leading platforms. Seventy-six percent of respondents usually place bets using mobile apps or online sports betting websites, and 80% use two or more platforms each week.
As far as gathering information before placing a bet goes, 61% use websites or apps and 49% use social media.
