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The American Gaming Association (AGA) has conducted an inaugural survey on World Cup wagering, which appears to have confirmed that soccer’s popularity in the US is booming. In total, 20.5 million Americans (8% of the population) say they plan to wager a total of $1.8bn on the tournament.
Betting on the World Cup is considered to be more ‘serious’ than other renowned sporting events such as the Super Bowl and March Madness, which encourage casual betting components.
The vast majority (72%) of World Cup bettors say they plan to place ‘traditional bets.’ This means they will likely bet on the overall tournament winner or the winner of individual games and/or groups.
Of the respondents who said they would be wagering, 9.8 million (48%) are betting online, 6 million (29%) plan to place a casual bet with friends, 4.7 million (23%) are going to place their bet at a physical casino and 4.1 million (20%) are going to use a bookie. The remaining 3.5 million (17%) say they are going to be part of a paid pool or fantasy contest.
AGA SVP Casey Clark commented: “As the first World Cup with the widespread availability of legal sports betting, this will certainly be the most bet-upon soccer event ever in the US.
“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."
Other findings from AGA’s survey found that the Gen Z (11%) and Millenial (14%) demographics are the most interested age group in betting on the World Cup. Statistics showed that after the US (24%), potential bettors favored Brazil (19%), Argentina (17%) and Germany (10%) as overall winners.
