Licensed sportsbooks in the United States are on pace to handle a record sum on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with gaming research firm Eilers & Krejcik projecting a tournament-long total of between $2.82 billion and $4.3 billion across online and retail channels combined. The figure would make the 39-day event the largest single sports betting cycle in US regulated market history, surpassing the combined legal handle of recent Super Bowls.
The tournament kicked off June 11 with Mexico’s 2-0 win over South Africa in Mexico City, and runs through the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. For the first time, all matches are being played on US, Mexican, and Canadian soil, putting fixtures in US time zones for the duration of the competition — a structural shift that analysts have cited as central to the elevated handle projections, since previous European- and Asian-hosted tournaments saw US wagering suppressed by overnight kickoff times.
Market Access Has Nearly Doubled Since 2022
The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates that roughly 65 percent of the US population now has legal access to sports betting, up from approximately 40 percent during the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Mobile sports betting is currently live in 39 states, compared with roughly 30 at the time of the last World Cup.
At the operator level, Deutsche Bank’s gaming research team projects FanDuel will handle approximately $1.3 billion in World Cup wagers across the tournament, with DraftKings projected to take in roughly $1.1 billion. Other major licensed operators, including BetMGM, Caesars, bet365, and Fanatics, are running full slates covering all 104 matches, with markets spanning outright winner futures, group-stage outcomes, and player props.
Early Signals Point to Strong Demand
Early signals reported by the AGA suggest betting interest has tracked at or above forecast levels. The US men’s national team’s 4-1 win over Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, California, was flagged by analysts ahead of the tournament as a factor that could push handle toward the higher end of the projected range, given the correlation between sustained US interest and overall market engagement.
Separately, wagering activity on prediction market platforms — which operate under a different regulatory framework than licensed sportsbooks — has also accelerated since the tournament’s opening. Globally, total wagering on the 2026 World Cup, including unregulated and offshore markets alongside licensed handle, is projected by Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon to exceed $50 billion, more than 40 percent above the $35 billion estimated for the 2022 tournament.
New Jersey Weighs a Tournament-Specific Surcharge
The scale of the projected handle has also introduced a regulatory development in New Jersey, where lawmakers are advancing a proposal for a 10 percent surcharge on World Cup betting revenue. If enacted, the surcharge would push the effective tax rate on the state’s online sports wagers to nearly 30 percent through the tournament’s conclusion, marking what would be the first tournament-specific betting surcharge imposed by a US state.
The 2026 World Cup is the first to feature an expanded 48-team field, up from 32 in previous tournaments, producing 104 total matches across the group and knockout stages — a larger slate that analysts have cited as a further driver of the handle increase relative to 2022. as a further driver of the handle increase relative to 2022.