According to financial services firm Macquarie, which has an interest in the gambling industry, the 2026 World Cup is on track to be the biggest gambling event ever, with an estimated $50 billion wagered on the event – with about $500 million wagered per match.
It said this was mainly due to the expansion in teams, meaning more than 100 matches would be played, up from 64 in 2022.
Flutter Entertainment, which owns Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet, has estimated that the amount wagered will double compared to previous tournaments due to growth in the US and Brazil.
Chad Bennon, an analyst at Macquarie, says sports betting has replaced more traditional pre-match punts.
“Now it’s all about reacting to what you see on the field, adjusting your thoughts. Whereas earlier it was like sit, watch, wait – you had to place your bets before the match,” he says.
Sports betting is still a relatively new industry in the US. Until 2018, sports betting was only legal in Nevada, home of Las Vegas, but a Supreme Court decision paved the way for many states to legalize it.
However, there are still some states where it is illegal, including California and Texas. There has been large participation in prediction markets in those areas – a fast-growing, billion-dollar industry popular among young men – which are not classified as gambling, meaning they can be used to place bets on sports no matter what state a person is in.
Additional reporting by Eleanor Doyle, Newsbeat.