84% of NFL Bettors Typically Make Live Bets During the Season, New Optimove Insights Report Finds

Pre-game wagering remains bettors' first preference, though 84% still typically make live bets at some point, 78% plan to keep betting after their favorite team is eliminated from contention, according to a survey of 926 NFL bettors

New York, Sept. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pre-game wagering is the first preference of NFL bettors heading into the 2026/27 season, named by 41%, followed by live betting during a game at 34%. Preference and participation are separate measures, however: eighty-four percent (84%) of bettors say they made live bets at some point during the last season (2025/26), according to a new report from Optimove Insights.  

The Optimove Insights 2026/27 NFL Betting Intentions Report, based on a survey of 926 U.S. adults who wagered on the NFL last season, examines how bettors plan to wager, spend, and engage with sportsbooks this year. The findings reveal that a bettor's stated plan describes a starting position, not a season. What bettors do next is shaped by what is happening on the field, in the standings, and in their own budget at that moment. 

Loyalty opens the season; it does not define it
Team affinity remains the strongest entry point. Ninety percent (90%) of bettors are certain or very likely to wager on a game involving their favorite team. But 78% say they would certainly or very likely keep betting after that team is eliminated from contention. 

The motivations bettors cite point in the same direction. Individual player performance leads at 45%, followed by team loyalty and adding excitement to watching at 43% each. Operator promotions (36%) and odds (34%) rank lower. 

Sixty percent (60%) have already placed a wager on the coming season, including futures such as preseason Super Bowl predictions, before Week One. It just indicates that the Super Bowl is a cultural event as much as a championship football game. 

"Intentions collected in August describe a starting position, not a season," said Pini Yakuel CEO of Optimove. "By week eleven a bettor's team may be eliminated from contention, they may be making live bets, and their weekly budget may already be spent. The sportsbook still needs the real-time insights to know which of those is true."  

Where the season's activity concentrates
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of bettors expect to wager during the regular season, while individual postseason stages draw between 40% and 50%. The weekly rhythm of regular-season games, not the marquee January and February playoff events, is where the majority of planned activity sits. 

Point spreads (59%) and moneylines (57%) are the leading planned wager types, followed by over/unders (43%) and parlays (29%). 

Budgets reset weekly
Eighty-one (81%) percent of bettors set a budget for the season. Weekly budgeting is the most common approach at 41%, ahead of a season budget at 24% and a cap on total spend at 16%; seventeen percent (17%) report no specific budget. 

Planned season budgets cluster in the middle: thirty-three percent (33%) expect to spend around $250, thirty-one percent (31%) expect $500 or more, and 26% expect around $100. On individual wagers, thirty- three percent (33%) plan to bet $11–$50, twenty-nine percent (29%) plan $201–$500, nineteen percent (19%) plan $51–$200, and 10% plan $501 or more. 

The report notes that single-wager size and total season spend are separate signals and should be tracked separately. A bettor willing to place an occasional $201–$500 wager may still plan to spend less across the season than someone betting smaller amounts every week. Because weekly limits are the most common cycle, each week of the season creates a fresh consideration window rather than an automatic increase in spending. 

Player loyalty and attention is a challenge every week 

Sixty-four percent (64%) of bettors expect to use two or more sportsbooks this season, and 16% will use three or more. Ease of using the app is the leading factor in choosing an operator at 59%, ahead of easy payouts (43%), promotions (31%), and personalization (28%). 

The same priorities drive departures. Forty-seven percent (47%) cite difficulty using the app or site as a reason to abandon a sportsbook, while 36% point to too many or irrelevant marketing messages and 33% to generic offers. At the same time, forty-seven percent (47%) say they would welcome more promotions surfacing bets and games beyond what they have already tried. Mobile app notifications are the preferred contact method at 53%, with email, text, and social media each at 36%. 

"Getting the right message to the right bettor at the right moment across an eighteen-week season means thousands of small decisions about who to contact, with what message, on which channel, and when to stop," Yakuel added. "Often marketing organizations aren't resourced for that, and AI is where the gap gets closed. A marketer still decides what a bettor should see. AI is what gets it in front of them the same week."

Optimove's Positionless Marketing approach is built for that gap, letting a single marketer identify a changing signal, build the audience, and activate the campaign without handoffs between internal teams. 

Methodology
The Optimove Insights 2026/27 NFL Betting Intentions Report is based on a survey of 926 U.S. adults who placed an NFL wager during the 2025/2026 season, conducted in August 2026. The study examined intentions for the 2026/2027 season, wager and budget patterns, sportsbook usage, information sources, and preferences around marketing communications and personalization. 

The full report is available here. 

About Optimove
Optimove is the creator of Positionless Marketing and the #1 Player Engagement Solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. Positionless Marketing frees marketing teams from the limitations of fixed roles, giving every marketer the power to execute any marketing task instantly and independently. Positionless Marketing has been proven to improve campaign efficiency by 88%, allowing marketing teams to create more personalized engagement with existing customers. 

For two years running, Optimove has been positioned as a Visionary in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs, recognized for its AI-driven decisioning, prescriptive insights, and proven ability to orchestrate thousands of personalized campaigns in real time across channels. 

Its Positionless Marketing Platform includes Optimove Engage and Orchestrate for cross-channel campaign decisioning and orchestration; Optimove Personalize, a digital personalization engine; and Optimove Gamify, a loyalty and gamification platform. 

All are powered by Optimove AI, the marketing AI suite that brings AI everywhere marketers work. Inside the platform through Native AI agents for decisioning, analysis, and creation, outside it to external AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT through the Optimove MCP, and into custom-built applications on top of the platform through Optimove Custom Apps. Optimove has embedded AI in its platform since 2012, paving the way for Positionless Marketing. 

Today, its comprehensive AI-powered suite is at the leading edge of empowering marketers to streamline workflows from Insight to Creation and through Optimization. Optimove provides industry-specific and use-case solutions for leading consumer brands globally. 

About Optimove Insights
Optimove Insights is the analytical and research arm of Optimove, dedicated to providing valuable industry insights and data-driven research to empower B2C businesses. 

Attachments

• NFL Bettors' Wager Preference
• Most NFL Bettors Make Live Bets

Rob Wyse
Optimove
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rob_a@optimove.com