Last updated on: January 2nd, 2025
2025 Sports Betting Contests
As if wagering on sports wasn’t already exciting enough, sports betting contests in the US add a whole new level of intrigue to each week’s matchups. The best 2025 sports betting contests that take US players will be outlined on this page. These contests were made famous by casino sportsbooks in Las Vegas, but they are now available at nearly all legal sports betting sites in the US. The highest paying and most frequent are the NFL betting contests.
So, if you’re a member at one of the legal betting sites that offer NFL contests, you’ll definitely want to join in, however, there are many contests across all different leagues and sports. If you are a high roller, there are tons of huge money contests that the big players can compete and win in. If you work with a little smaller of a bankroll, have no fear, as there are hundreds of contests available for you as well. Legal US sportsbooks can offer grand prizes that can range to hundreds of thousands of dollars and buy-ins can vary as well, so you can pick the handicapping contest that works for you.
| Rank | Sportsbook | Bonus Offer | Play Now |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Exclusive 50% Bonus Code up to $1000!Read Review | BVD1000 in Cashier |
| 2 |  |
50% Up To $1,000Read Review | Visit BetOnline! |
| 3 |  |
50% Up To $1,000 Read Review | Visit MyBookie! |
| 4 |  |
125% Up To $2,000 | Visit BetUs! |
| 5 |  |
50% Up To $1,000 Read Review | Visit SportsBetting! |
| 6 |  |
100% Up To $300Read Review | Visit Xbet! |
March Madness Betting Contests
March Madness betting is right up there with the other major sports leagues in terms of popularity so it makes sense that all of the major legal sports betting sites that take US players have bracket contests. Bovada, BetOnline, and MyBookie run annual March Madness bracket contests with Bovada leading the way paying out $1,000,000 in guaranteed prizes. Check out the 2025 real money March Madness contests that are open to US players.
Bovada March Madness Contest
New players are eligible to join the March Madness bracket contest at Bovada, with no entry fee involved. The player with the highest score will receive $80,000 and other top finishers will split the remainder of the $1 million total prize. The only requirement is to make a deposit.
BetOnline March Madness Contest
Enter the $200,000 bracket contest at BetOnline for only $20. All players are allowed to enter 20 times and the fee gets smaller the more you enter. If the total entry fees taken by BetOnline surpasses $200,000, the payout total will increase as well for the top 1,250 finishers.
College Football Betting Contests
Betting on College Football is filled with excitement each year as different teams filter in and out as powerhouses throughout the country. With that, there are plenty of opportunities to enter sports betting contests for the college football season. One, in particular, comes at MyBookie with their weekly college football betting squares contest.
NBA Betting Contests
Some of the most popular contests for legal NBA betting can be found at BetOnline as they run both handicapping contests for the regular season and the playoffs. Their season-long sports betting contest is an NBA Finals matchup predictor where you choose which two teams will meet in the finals. The second is a bracket tournament with the 16 teams that make the postseason with $10,000 in prizes. Both contests are free.
Golf Betting Contests
Betting on the PGA Tour and the majors is extremely big each year, and the legal online sports betting sites that have odds on them all have contests that you could participate in as well. If looking for some of the best 2025 sports betting contess, check out BetOnline. They run a $10,000 contest for each or the four majors where you’ll answer a prop sheet, and the person that gets the most correct props will win their share of the prize fund.
Kentucky Derby Betting Contests
$10,000 Kentucky Derby First & Last
Casino:
BetOnline
Entry Fee:
Free
Max Entries:
1
Top Prize:
$5,000 Freeplay Share
The $10,000 Kentucky Derby First & Last Contest is a free Kentucky Derby contest at BetOnline. Though entry is free, to qualify for a prize, participants must have $10 in action at one of the most popular Kentucky Derby betting sites. Players can win prizes for predicting the first and/or the last place finisher for the Derby. The payouts may be chopped down with only a few choices, but with only one entry per person, anything can happen in this betting contest.
- Correctly Guess Both: Shared prize pool of $5,000 in freeplay
- Correctly Guess First: Shared prize pool of $3,000 in freeplay
- Correctly Guess Last: Shared prize pool of $2,000 in freeplay
NHL Betting Contests
Legal NHL betting continues to grow, and betting contests continue to pop up and in bracket format. Once the playoffs start, you could enter a bracket tournament on the winner of the Stanley Cup. Some legal betting sites that accept US players offer a handicapping contest all year long, while others open the pool closer to the playoffs.
NFL Betting Contests
With NFL betting being the most popular topic on legal sports betting sites, it makes sense that there are several betting contests to get in on each year. These NFL contests can come at any part of the season, whether it’s the regular season, playoffs, or for the Super Bowl.
- Bovada: Weekly NFL Prop Bet Contest
- BetOnline: NFL Draft Predictor
- BetOnline: Super Bowl Score Predictor
- BetOnline: Super Bowl Prop Contest
- MyBookie: Weekly NFL Betting Squares
Other Sports Betting Contests
Some of the best 2025 sports betting contests are listed on this page above. However, sports betting contests are frequently available for whatever the most popular sporting event is at a given time. Some of the most popular contests for sports betting in the past have been on March Madness, UFC Cards, and Horse Racing. An example of each is below:
- DraftKings Kentucky Derby Pool: For the most prestigious horse racing event of the year, DraftKings offered over $100,000 in prizes for a contest that came with no entry fee. Participants had to answer eight questions such as the post position of the winning horse and if the time would be over/under two minutes and two seconds. Entries were limited to one per person.