Bookmakers earn record money from the World Cup



07/20/2026 8:42 AM


The magnitude of wagering on the 2026 World Cup is unparalleled. Macquarie estimates that more than $50 billion has been bet on the tournament globally, making it the biggest betting event ever, exceeding both Qatar 2022 and the record-setting Super Bowl. H2 Gambling Capital analysts project the overall betting volume to be even greater – approximately $60 billion in total regulated turnover worldwide.



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The primary force behind the growth, naturally, was the US market, which is hosting the tournament after 32 years. Eilers & Krejcik projects that legal US bookmakers will generate between $2.82 billion and $4.3 billion – nearly nine times the amount from the 2022 World Cup, when legal wagers in the nation barely hit half a billion.

The maximum limit of the range surpasses the revenue of any individual Super Bowl, which is typically regarded as the most significant sporting event for wagering. The explanation is structural: following the last World Cup, the count of states allowing legal mobile betting has increased from 19 to 39.

Beneath these turnovers lie figures that hide the jackpot tales favored on social media. This competition has turned into a windfall for bookmakers – the revenue for betting firms is guaranteed through the volume of bets, and the profit for the bookmakers is guaranteed by a share of each dollar staked, which the company keeps irrespective of the game's result.

In football, this margin has historically been narrow – approximately 5-7%, much less than in American football. However, for this event, H2 forecasts a retention of 12.5% – twice the normal rate. This is due to bettors migrating significantly to single-match accumulators and live betting on events during games, as these options yield a considerably higher margin for bookmakers compared to a straightforward bet on the result.

source: bloomberg.com

 


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