US gambling industry expects record $1.8BILLION will be bet on World Cup

The United States is overtaking the rest of the world in men’s soccer, or at least as far as gambling on the sport is concerned.

Americans will bet $1.8 billion on the World Cup this year, the first to be held while legal sports betting is widespread in the US, according to the casino industry’s national trade group.

About 20.5 million American adults plan to bet on the biggest soccer tournament in the world, legally or otherwise, the American Gaming Association estimated Tuesday. The majority plan to place bets online, with a bookie or at a physical sportsbook.

The survey is the organization’s first for World Cup betting.

Thirty-one states plus Washington, D.C., currently offer legal sports betting, with five additional markets due to begin soon.

‘As the first World Cup with widespread availability of legal sports betting, this will certainly be the most bet-upon soccer event ever in the US,’ said Casey Clark, the group’s senior vice president. ‘With more than half of all American adults having access to legal betting options in their home market, legal sports betting will deepen American fan engagement in the most-watched sporting event in the world.’

Legal wagering is currently available to 132 million Americans in their home states. That is up dramatically from the 2018 World Cup, when only 10 million had access to it in just three states.

That was the year New Jersey won a US Supreme Court case clearing the way for all 50 states to offer legal sports betting if they so choose.

The survey asked respondents what they would bet on if they were given $50 to make a wager on the winner of the tournament. The results were: United States (24 percent); Brazil (19 percent); Argentina (17 percent) and Germany (10 percent).

It also shows plenty of room for growth in terms of betting on the World Cup. Less than 3 in 10 Americans who plan to watch the tournament say they will bet on it.

The tournament begins November 20 with host nation Qatar taking on Ecuador. The US has its first game the next day against Wales.

As for Britain, roughly 50 percent of sports gamblers in the country say they are ‘very likely’ or ‘somewhat likely’ to bet on this year’s World Cup, according to a YouGov Direct study released in September.