The 2026 World Cup is already setting unprecedented milestones in the world of sports betting, even before the start of the knockout stages. This phenomenon is driven by an increased number of selections and the synchronization of game times, which prove to be extremely advantageous for the market, raising projections that this tournament will become the biggest betting event in history.
With an expanded structure to 48 teams and a total of 104 matches, the Football World Cup is expected to significantly surpass the betting volumes seen in the 2022 competition, held in Qatar. Industry leaders and analysts credit this growth to a more regulated betting market globally, the diversification of product offerings and the vast size of the segment in the United States, one of the host countries.
The giant Flutter Entertainment, which operates renowned brands such as FanDuel, Paddy Power, Betfair, Sisal, Sportsbet and Sky Bet, highlighted that the expanded tournament not only benefits the US, but also intensifies engagement in other regions where the company has a strong presence, such as the United Kingdom, Spain, Brazil, Australia and Canada.
“We anticipate the World Cup will be the biggest betting event ever, considering the new expanded format and the added benefit of being co-hosted in our main market, the United States,” said a Flutter spokesperson.
The largest online betting company in the world estimates that it attracts approximately 10 million users across its various platforms and processes around 100,000 bets per minute worldwide at the busiest times during the World Cup.
“Our general projection is that the volume of bets will be at least double what was recorded during the World Cup in Qatar”, added the company.
Markets in Brazil and the United States reach unprecedented levels of engagement
Macquarie projects that the total amount bet on the World Cup will exceed US$50 billion globally, surpassing the US$35 billion for the 2022 edition. One of the key factors for this increase lies in the evolution of the regulatory environment in the US, where the percentage of the population with access to legal betting has grown to 65%, in contrast to around 40% in 2022.
Reuters consulted some of the largest sports betting corporations on the planet, which manage dozens of platforms, to understand the dynamics observed in the opening week of the World Cup.
The opening games of the United States and Brazil teams were the two football clashes that recorded the highest number of active customers in FanDuel history. Similarly, these same two matches represented the biggest events in the sports betting trajectory of DraftKings, the North American leader, both in total betting volume and in the number of active users.
It is important to clarify that betting volume refers to the full amount invested by bettors, while active customers are those who have registered accounts and participated in betting activities.
Greg Karamitis, executive vice president and general manager of sports at DraftKings, indicated that the company was already seeing “massive engagement” and a considerable increase in volume compared to the early stages of the previous World Cup in Qatar.
“We saw a three-fold increase in the number of clients making predictions for the first time and an 87% increase in prediction trading volume since the start of the championship,” detailed Karamitis.
“With regard specifically to sports betting, we recorded a five-fold increase in the volume of bets compared to the 2022 World Cup,” added the executive.
Deutsche Bank presents an initial estimate of US$3.3 billion for World Cup betting volume in the US alone, with FanDuel and DraftKings leading the way, a figure that represents almost double the projections for this year’s Super Bowl.