The 2025 NFL season kicks off Thursday, Sept. 4, with the Dallas Cowboys visiting the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. According to gambling experts (per ESPN), the matchup is expected to be the “biggest bet game of the opening week,” with hundreds of millions of dollars likely on the line at U.S. sportsbooks alone (ESPN BET, Caesars Sportsbook, Sept. 3, 2025).

Joey Feazel, who oversees football odds at Caesars Sportsbook, noted that the company nearly tripled its betting options for football this season. “Eagles-Cowboys is lining up to be the biggest bet game of the opening week thus far,” he said. “We would expect it to lead us in handle as we go through the season.”

Last season, only the Super Bowl and two conference championship games drew more money at DraftKings than the Week 1 opener between the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs. ESPN BET reported that the Ravens-Chiefs game had more bets than any other regular-season contest, while Caesars said the Week 1 games of Ravens-Chiefs and Packers-Eagles ranked in the top 10 most heavily bet games of the year.

Bookmakers say NFL openers outperform other major U.S. sports due to timing. Betting volume drops in summer, then spikes in September. Colorado sportsbooks reported $173.1 million in pro football bets last September, almost as much as July and August combined for baseball (Colorado Department of Revenue). NBA and NHL seasons start later in the year, when football is midseason.

Veteran oddsmaker Ed Salmons of Westgate SuperBook recalled similar surges after the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, when bettors flooded back to sports. “They just wanted to bet,” he said. Weeks 1 and 2 of the NFL season consistently see the highest handles outside playoff games.

As of Wednesday, Sept. 3, the Eagles are favorites over the Cowboys, with ESPN BET reporting the game as the most bet Week 1 contest by a “considerable margin.” Early-season excitement, pent-up demand, and a national spotlight make this opener a betting powerhouse.

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