⚽️ The largest betting event in history: sportsbooks generated USD 50 billion during the FIFA World Cup

⚽️ The largest betting event in history: sportsbooks generated USD 50 billion during the FIFA World Cup

This figure represents the total amount wagered globally by football fans who participated in sports betting markets throughout the tournament. It does not include the final match, as the Forbes article reporting the figure was published three days before the decisive game.

The tournament surpassed both Qatar 2022 and the Super Bowl, which had previously ranked among the world’s largest betting events. Analysts at H2 Gambling Capital projected an even higher figure, estimating approximately USD 60 billion in global regulated betting turnover.

💕 The main growth driver was the #UnitedStates🇺🇸 market, which hosted the tournament for the first time in 32 years:

⚫️ According to a forecast by Eilers & Krejcik, legal U.S. sportsbooks were expected to generate between USD 2.82 billion and USD 4.3 billion in betting volume throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup — nearly nine times higher than the amount wagered during the 2022 tournament, when the total reached just under USD 500 million. No official figures have yet been released to confirm whether this projection was achieved.

⚫️ Several factors contributed to this expansion. Over the previous four years, the number of U.S. states offering legal mobile sports betting increased from 19 to 39, while the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams raised the number of matches from 64 to 104, creating a substantially larger betting inventory.

💕 Globally, the industry’s record revenues were also supported by the hold, the margin sportsbooks retain from the total amount wagered regardless of the outcome of sporting events.

💕 In football betting, the hold has historically ranged between 5% and 7%. However, according to H2 Gambling Capital, it was expected to reach 12.5% during this tournament. The increase is attributed to the growing popularity of same-game parlays and live in-play betting, which typically generate higher margins for operators.

💕 Prediction markets also continued to expand. Annual revenue at Polymarket, driven by football-related contracts, temporarily exceeded USD 1 billion.

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