With 2025 about to come to an end Wednesday night, DraftKings Sportsbook divulged a series of insights, including the biggest wagers, the most popular teams, and the largest upsets of the year.
Unsurprisingly, the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl showdown was the most-bet event of 2025.
Key Takeaways
- The NFL dominated, hosting all five of the year's most popular events.
- Anyone who bet $10 on the biggest futures upset won $25,000.
- Jalen Hurts and the Eagles won the most money for NFL bettors.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and New York Yankees were backed by more money than all other professional teams.
While the Super Bowl was bettors’ favorite event of the year, the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game matchup with the Buffalo Bills was second. The Eagles and Washington Commanders’ NFC Championship Game, fittingly, was third.
Eagles vs Commanders: NFC Championship
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) January 27, 2025
They "took over" the Hard Rock and then got Rocked Hard Edition, courtesy of the Commanders Radio Network with Bram Weinstein and London Fletcher
1. SAQUON. BARKLEY.
"One play. Eagles take the lead. Touchdown Saquon Barkley." pic.twitter.com/twrVpXQFKS
The fourth- and fifth-most popular events also occurred in the NFL playoffs between the Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens and the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders.
Sticking with NFL betting, DraftKings customers’ favorite prop targets were Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, and Jahmyr Gibbs. Barkley was the most-bet anytime touchdown scorer all year.
The most-bet players from other major sports included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Shohei Ohtani, Connor McDavid, A’ja Wilson, Carlos Alcaraz, and Scottie Scheffler.
The most popular teams from every major sport were the Eagles, Dodgers, Thunder, Edmonton Oilers, Las Vegas Aces, Ohio State (college football), and Florida (college basketball).
YOUR NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: THE FLORIDA GATORS 🏆🐊#MarchMadness @GatorsMBK pic.twitter.com/XatLv5x2hm
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) April 8, 2025
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Biggest betting upsets
Moving away from popularity and into profitability, the biggest upset of the year came courtesy of South Korean golfer Junghwan Lee, who won the 2025 Genesis champion as a +50,000 underdog.
The Carolina Panthers (+700) were responsible for the longest outright upset against the Green Bay Packers in Week 9. The Washington Wizards’ Feb. 1 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at +950 set the bar for the NBA, while the Colorado Rockies’ June 15 win over the Atlanta Braves as +320 underdogs topped MLB action.
The world of college sports belonged to upset kings UCLA, which took down Penn State as a +1,800 underdog near the beginning of October.
Jerry Neuheisel says that UCLA had two days to practice its new gameplan before scoring 42 on Penn State
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 5, 2025
pic.twitter.com/VC9l4ZhVyM
The biggest futures upset of the year also occurred in the world of golf. Harris English (+250,000) was the PGA Championship 2025 Winner Without Scottie Scheffler champion, meaning that anyone who bet $10 on him claimed $25,000.
The Dallas Mavericks to draft Cooper Flagg (+50,000) also paid off big time for bettors, just a little more than Tre Tucker to have the most receiving yards on Sunday in Week 3 (+30,000) did for the NFL crowd. The Milwaukee Brewers to have the best regular-season record (+25,000) proved to be quite the savvy pick on the diamond.
Money-makers of 2025
DraftKings’ customers found the most success when targeting a select group of teams and players.
In the NFL, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles paid off the most; in the NBA, Aaron Gordon and the Indiana Pacers were heroes; on the ice, Alex Ovechkin and the Florida Panthers raked in the cash; and in the MLB, Kerry Carpenter and the Los Angeles Angels were the most profitable.
AARON GORDON WINS IT IN OKC FOR THE NUGGETS 😱
— ESPN (@espn) May 6, 2025
His second game-winner of these playoffs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CFOIDbY3yr
Rory McIlroy stood alone in golf, while Alyssa Thomas and the Aces dominated the WNBA.
