June 4 – The 2026 FIFA World Cup is on course to become the biggest betting event in American history, with industry analysts projecting U.S. sportsbooks will handle around $2.9 billion across the tournament, which is more than double the figure from 2022 and potentially eclipsing both the Super Bowl and March Madness.
For context, the recently completed NCAA basketball tournaments drew an estimated $3 billion-plus in wagers, while Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks attracted roughly $1.7 billion. With a deep U.S. run, World Cup handle could climb as high as $4.4 billion, according to research firm Eilers and Krejcik Gaming.
“The Super Bowl is the pinnacle, but the World Cup is going to be a couple dozen Super Bowls back-to-back-to-back-to-back over the span of six weeks,” said Brian Josephs, Vice President of Americas for Sportradar.
The combination of favourable kick-off times for North American audiences, expanded format, and tournament-on-home-soil excitement is expected to draw in casual and serious bettors alike at a time of year traditionally quieter for sportsbooks. “In general, the summer tends to be quieter. Injecting the World Cup into it totally reshapes the field of sports for the summer,” DraftKings EVP and GM of sports Greg Karamitis told ESPN.
The global numbers dwarf the U.S. figures. H2 Gambling Capital estimates $60 billion will be wagered worldwide at regulated sportsbooks, a massive 71% jump on 2022, driven by the expanded 48-team format, 40 additional matches, and newly regulated markets such as Brazil coming online.
Adding to the picture are prediction markets, the increasingly popular online exchanges trading sports outcomes like equities. DeFi Rate projects that more than $2.5 billion could be traded on the World Cup across U.S. prediction platforms.
Analyst Cheryle Shepstone said volume on the tournament winner alone was already pacing to more than double the equivalent on the NCAA tournament.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at [email protected]