2022 World Cup: Here's How Much Could Be Wagered In The US On The Tournament

The 2022 World Cup matches kick off on Sunday, Nov. 20. A total of 64 matches will be played, with 32 teams competing in the tournament through a group stage and elimination matches. Here are the estimates on how the sports betting markets could be impacted.

What Happened: After missing out on the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. Men’s National Team is back in action for the 2022 World Cup.

Americans will tune into matches on Fox Corporation FOXFOXA channels, and also in some cases bet the action at their favorite sportsbook.

New data from the American Gaming Association estimates that 20.5 million American adults will bet on the 2022 World Cup, representing 8% of the adult population in the country. The report estimates $1.8 billion to be wagered throughout the tournament.

Of those who will place a bet, 48% indicated they will do so with an online sportsbook and 23% said they would place wagers at a physical casino sportsbook.

“As the first World Cup with widespread availability of legal sports betting, this will certainly be the most bet-upon soccer event ever in the U.S.,” American Gaming Association Senior Vice President Casey Clark said. “With more than half of all American adults having access to legal betting options in their home market, legal sports betting will deepen American fan engagement in the most-watched sporting event in the world.”

The report said 78% of bettors find it important to place their bets legally, either physically or online.

Gen Z and Millenials showed the strongest interest in betting on the 2022 World Cup at 11% and 14% respectively, compared to Gen X (8%) and Baby Boomers (2%).

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Why It’s Important: A total of 31 states and Washington, D.C. offer legal sports betting of some sort heading into the 2022 World Cup. With legalized sports betting still a newer item in recent years and the U.S. not playing in the 2018 World Cup, this year could serve as a test of how big a market the tournament is in the U.S.

The American Gaming Association predicted that $1 billion would be wagered legally on the 2022 Super Bowl, a one-day event. The report predicted that 31.4 million U.S. adults would bet on the Super Bowl.

Unlike the Super Bowl, the World Cup is spread out over the course of weeks and also sees futures betting on items like overall winner, top goalscorer, and which teams will advance out of the group stage as popular bets.

Sports betting expert Darren Rovell recently told Benzinga that soccer isn’t set up as well for live betting as traditionally watched American sports like the NFL, NCAA Football and Major League Baseball.

The biggest wildcard for sportsbooks in the U.S. will likely be just how far the U.S. team advances. The U.S. is in Group B, considered by some as the “group of death.” The U.S. has odds of +100 at many sportsbooks to advance out of the group stage.

Caesars Entertainment CZR owned Caesars Sportsbook is one of the sportsbooks that could be hoping for the U.S. to make a deep run.

“When the tournament gets to the knockout rounds, and if the U.S. is hopefully still going strong, handle per game could be similar to a Sunday afternoon NFL game,” Caesars Sportsbook Head of Rest of World Trading Dom Scott said.

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