The global sports gambling industry is banking on the World Cup to reignite growth after a period of slowing momentum and intensifying competition from prediction markets.

Online betting operators have faced challenges in recent months, with customer acquisition stagnating and existing users placing fewer wagers, according to The New York Times.

The industry is now turning to the expanded tournament as a potential catalyst for renewed engagement.

The competition, which began this week across 16 venues in the United States, Mexico and Canada, has already delivered early action, with Mexico securing a win over South Africa on Thursday.

The United States is scheduled to face Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday night.
Operators are positioning heavily around the tournament’s expanded 48-team format, prime-time broadcast windows, and its summer scheduling—typically a low-activity period for sports betting in major markets.

In the United States, online sportsbooks are expected to handle approximately $4.4 billion in wagers during the tournament, according to research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.

This marks a significant jump from the $1.8 billion recorded during the 2022 World Cup, underscoring expectations of heightened betting activity tied to the expanded format and broader global participation.

“That is a lot for a single event or tournament,” said Chris Grove, partner emeritus at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. “The U.S. has a diverse and dense sport calendar, making it hard for any one event to have an outsized impact.”

Projecting global betting volumes is difficult due to the large number of unregulated markets, but analysts expect a record total that could run into tens of billions of dollars.