U.S. Betting on World Cup Surpassed Only by Super Bowl
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The 2022 FIFA World Cup will go down in history for various reasons. Still, for many in the U.S., it was the first major international soccer event you could place a bet on, with more than half of the country having the ability to place a bet on sporting events as we near 2023.
The recent World Cup final saw Lionel Messi win soccer’s greatest prize and that game has now gone down as the greatest game of soccer ever witnessed in the eyes of many.
Argentina’s incredible win against France in the World Cup final emerged as the second-most popular sports match of the year for bettors in the U.S., according to data from geolocation and fraud specialist, GeoComply.
Soccer’s biggest stage attracted 7.9 million geolocation transactions, which, although far behind the Super Bowl’s 23.5 million, is still nothing short of incredible given the difference in popularity between the Super Bowl and the World Cup in North America.
That figure of 7.9 million is way ahead of the 4.8 million transactions that took place during the NCAA March Madness final in April.
The World Cup final also saw more transactions than the final game of the NBA season, which attracted 5.1 million geolocation checks back in June.
Also, the 1.7 million active users betting on the World Cup final was the second highest from showcase finals this year, with the Super Bowl seeing 3.1 million active users.
The World Cup figure was still ahead of the NCAA championship game (1.1 million), Game 6 of the NBA Finals (1 million) and way ahead of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final (0.5 million).
Sam Basile, GeoComply VP of Business Development for North American Gaming, said in a news release: “They say Americans don’t like soccer, but they certainly got a kick out of betting on the World Cup. GeoComply’s data disproves the myth that Americans are not interested in The Beautiful Game.”
A report from FIFA after the 2018 World Cup final estimated viewing figures around the world to be around 3.572 billion people. For the 2022 final, that figure is expected to be even higher and perhaps closer to 4 billion.
As time goes on and soccer gets even bigger in North America, the betting transactions in the U.S. for events like the World Cup final and Champions League final are only going to go up and up.
World Cup 2026 U.S. Futures Odds
With the success of World Cup 2022 betting, the outlook for 2026 is even brighter.
The tournament will be played in North America, with games in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The Americans are projected to have a better showing in four years. Here are futures odds.
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