More than $50bn (£37.4bn) in wagers are expected to be placed on this year's World Cup, making it the biggest betting event in history, according to a forecast by financial services firm Macquarie. That total would mark a sharp rise from the $35bn gambled during the 2022 tournament in Qatar, driven primarily by the expansion from 32 to 48 teams, which will produce over 100 matches across six weeks – compared with 64 in 2022.
Punters are forecast to bet around $500m per match, with favourable time zones across hosts the US, Canada and Mexico expected to boost viewership in Europe, Latin America and Africa, according to Macquarie analyst Chad Benyon. The growing US sports betting market – where 65% of the population can now gamble on sports, up from 40% in 2022 – means this is the first World Cup on which a majority of Americans can place bets. Benyon warned the tournament could be a "flash in the pan" for betting firms unless they convert one-off punters into "repeat, multi-sport bettors", adding that companies with casino platforms stand to benefit most.
“World Cup set to be biggest betting event ever with $50bn in wagers, as expansion and US market fuel surge.”
Gambling awareness groups have issued stark warnings. Les Bernal, national director of Stop Predatory Gambling, said: "99 out of 100 sports bettors lose money in the long-term... the business model for commercialised sport gambling operators is completely based upon the people who have been turned into addicted gamblers, an addiction that causes victims to die by suicide at a rate unlike any other." He predicted that "hundreds of thousands of people across the world, especially young men, will suffer life-changing debt and financial distress" because of World Cup betting, and called on politicians globally to curtail addictive forms of gambling.
UK campaigner Matt Zarb-Cousin said punters betting on the World Cup will be "cross-promoted more addictive casino content". A National Centre for Social Research report found that, in the UK, 79% of gambling company winnings came from the top 10% of spenders – those who wagered at least £5,639 in a year.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Britain's gambling trade body, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), has written an open letter to major tech platforms urging them to crack down on illegal betting adverts ahead of the tournament. BGC chief Grainne Hurst warned that black market adverts risk undermining consumer protection. The BGC represents regulated betting companies; a spokesperson for the organisation previously said: "The UK has some of the strongest gambling regulations and consumer protections in the world."