2026 World Cup Betting Figures Could Top Super Bowl and March Madness

2026 World Cup betting could surpass the Super Bowl and March Madness (FIFA doc).

JAKARTA - March Madness and the Super Bowl are usually the United States' favorite events to bet on. While football is often considered a special event on US sports betting sites.

However, with the 2026 World Cup taking place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico this summer, experts believe that betting on this biggest football tournament could surpass both events.

Betting industry analysts estimate that $2.9 billion will be wagered on the 2026 World Cup on US sports betting sites, more than double the amount wagered on the 2022 tournament. That figure could skyrocket if the underdogs United States National Team go far.

According to ESPN gambling industry reporter Chris Altruda, who used state revenue reports to form his estimates, betting on NCAA basketball tournaments in the US is expected to exceed 3 billion US dollars. Then, about 1.7 billion US dollars were wagered on Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks."The Super Bowl is the pinnacle, but the 2026 World Cup will be dozens of Super Bowls in a row for six weeks," said Brian Josephs, Vice President of Sportradar Americas, an international data company that monitors the betting market.

Research firm Eilers and Krejcik Gaming said that if the United States national team exceeds expectations, revenue from the 2026 World Cup could reach $4.4 billion in U.S. sportsbooks, which would surpass the 2026 NCAA tournament.

Even with the United States' early exit, U.S. sportsbooks are predicting the 2026 World Cup will be a good business for the summer.

Sports betting executives and industry experts point to a favorable time zone. The general excitement surrounding the games being played in the country could contribute to casual and serious bettors lining up to wager.

"In general, summer tends to be calmer. With the 2026 World Cup, it really changes the map of sports competition in the summer," said Greg Karamitis, EVP and GM of Sports at DraftKings, a US gambling company based in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to H2 Gambling Capital - a London-based consultancy - in June and July last year, $1.7 billion was wagered on all soccer matches on US sports betting sites, the figure is much larger internationally.

H2 estimates that $60 billion will be wagered on the 2026 World Cup on regulated sports betting sites around the world, an increase of 71 percent from the company's estimate for the 2022 World Cup.

The increase reflects an expansion of the number of teams, from 32 to 48, which results in 40 more matches and takes into account new legal betting markets - such as Brazil - which have opened since the last World Cup.

In addition to US sports betting sites, people will wager their money on the 2026 World Cup in prediction markets - increasingly popular online exchanges that facilitate trading, like stocks, on the outcome of sporting events.

DeFi Rate, a media that tracks volume in the prediction market, estimates that more than $2.5 billion could be traded on the 2026 World Cup in the US prediction market.

DeFi analyst Rate, Cheryle Shepstone, told ESPN that the trading volume on the 2026 World Cup winners is expected to more than double the amount traded on the NCAA basketball tournament winners.