The U.S. now has legal sports betting in 40 states (with Missouri set to come online later this year) thanks to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Professional Sports and Amateur Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018.
The increase in available outlets for big bettors and the prevalence of social media has led to an increase in large wagers reported by different sportsbooks. Previously, those wagers could (legally) be made only in Nevada, and speaking with many veteran Vegas bookmakers for this story, there certainly were plenty of seven-figure wagers made before legalization.
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However, there’s little doubt that we hear more about them in the present era of sports betting. And there have been plenty of seven-figure parlay wins off of smaller wagers, as well.
For this article, though, we’re focusing on the largest reported winning wagers in U.S. sports betting history — all of which have happened since 2018. And wouldn’t you know it, the largest of all comes from just a few months ago from a BetMGM bettor in Ohio who wagered $8 million on the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the 2025 NBA Finals over the Indiana Pacers at -700 odds.
[Check out all of Yahoo’s sports betting content here in our new betting hub]
Here are the five biggest reported bets that cashed in legal U.S. sports betting history:
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1. $8 million on Oklahoma City Thunder (-700) to win 2024-25 NBA championship
Date: June 5, 2025
Sportsbook: BetMGM
State placed: Ohio
Bet won: $1,142,857.15
How it happened: Placed a few hours before tipoff of Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals in June, a bettor in Ohio had serious conviction on the Thunder — and with good reason, as Oklahoma City opened at -800 odds to win the series and was one of the largest NBA Finals favorites since 1968, according to Sports Odds History. Oklahoma City was a massive 10-point home favorite in Game 1, but lost 111-110 on Tyrese Haliburton’s buzzer-beater. This bettor had a much bigger sweat than anticipated, as Indiana pushed the series to the limit before losing Haliburton early in Game 7 to a torn Achilles and eventually falling 103-91 in the final game in Oklahoma City.
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2. $3.46 million on Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3.5 (-127) in Super Bowl LV
Date: Feb. 3, 2021
Sportsbook: DraftKings
State placed: Colorado
Bet won: $2.72 million
How it happened: Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale — the Houston furniture salesman known for placing large sports bets as hedges for promotions — flew into Colorado Springs, logged onto the DraftKings mobile app and wagered a cool $3.46 million on Tom Brady’s Buccaneers to beat Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl in early February of 2021. This wager was also tied to a promotion in which customers at his store purchasing a mattress for $3,000 or more would get their money back if the Bucs won the Super Bowl.
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McIngvale paid a little extra juice to move the line from Bucs +3 to +3.5, which didn’t end up mattering. Tampa Bay fell behind 3-0 before scoring 14 unanswered points en route to a 21-6 halftime lead and eventual 31-9 victory. Mahomes was sacked three times and under duress all game. Brady was named the MVP (for the fifth time in his Hall of Fame career) and won his seventh and final Super Bowl.
3. $3.1 million on Philadelphia Eagles ML (-700) to beat Carolina Panthers in Week 14
Date: Dec. 5, 2024
Sportsbook: Circa Sports
State placed: Kentucky
Bet won: $442,857
How it happened: One bettor at Circa Sports’ Kentucky sportsbook plopped down $3.1 million on Jalen Hurts’ Eagles (10-2 record at the time) on a Thursday this past December to simply defeat Bryce Young’s Panthers (3-9 record at the time) on that Sunday. It’s thought to be one of the biggest wagers ever on a regular-season NFL game. The Eagles closed as 13.5-point favorites, but were winning only 14-10 at halftime and actually were losing 16-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Grant Calcaterra’s 4-yard touchdown catch from Jalen Hurts (and Saquon Barkley’s subsequent successful 2-point conversion run) put the Eagles ahead 22-16 with 13:45 remaining.
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But this game is remembered for Panthers WR Xavier Leggette letting a would-be 32-yard TD pass in the end zone go through his hands with under a minute remaining. The Eagles eventually turned the Panthers over on downs and won 22-16, but this bettor probably sweated profusely through the game.
T4. $3 million on Philadelphia Eagles ML (+160) to win Super Bowl LII
Date: Jan. 24, 2018
Sportsbook: MGM
State placed: Nevada
Bet won: $4.8 million
How it happened: A bettor known in the sports betting community only as “Bettor X” really liked Nick Foles and the Eagles to win outright against Brady’s New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. The bettor went around to several sportsbooks in Las Vegas — remember, this was several months before the Supreme Court repealed PASPA — and placed several large six- and seven-figure wagers on Philadelphia to win the game, including a $3 million money-line wager at +160 at MGM, confirmed to Yahoo Sports by Jay Rood, former MGM Resorts vice president of race and sports. The Patriots closed as 4.5-point favorites. Foles threw for 373 yards and three TDs and the Eagles upset New England 41-33 — a game that included the famous “Philly Special” play in which Foles caught a 1-yard TD pass from TE Trey Burton late in the first half on fourth-and-goal.
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[Check out all of Yahoo’s sports betting content here in our new betting hub]
T4. $3 million on Houston Astros to win 2022 World Series (10-1)
Date: May 13, 2022
Sportsbook: Caesars
State placed: Louisiana
Bet won: $30 million
How it happened: Mattress Mack was back again in 2022, placing a $3 million bet in May in a parking lot in Louisiana, per ESPN’s David Purdum, on the Astros to win the World Series in 2022 at 10-1 odds. It was part of roughly $10 million worth of wagers the Houston furniture salesman put down on his hometown Astros to win it all. The Astros ended up defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in six games in the World Series, and Mattress Mack won roughly $75 million. Of course, he had to use the money to pay back his customers who bought mattresses over $3,000.
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“What can we say? We just wrote the biggest check in sports betting history to Mattress Mack for $30,000,000,” Ken Fuchs, chief operating officer for Caesars Digital, said in a press release after the Astros won the World Series. “Would we do it all again? You bet.”
