The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be massive. See how it will impact sports betting

The FIFA World Cup is the biggest event in world sports, and since it takes place only every four years, it always arrives with enormous expectations. For this reason, the sports betting market is also extremely busy, which is a great opportunity for users of betting platforms and also marks a special time for bookmakers like Bizbet, who prepare in various ways to handle the high volume of bets.

Here, you’ll see the World Cup’s potential to boost the sports betting market this year, with data on the event and the main expectations for this year’s edition, which begins on June 11 and ends on July 18.

The FIFA World Cup in Numbers

The World Cup is by far the largest sporting event in the world. The data is impressive. To get a sense of the tournament’s sheer scale, it’s worth looking at a table showing how many people follow each of the major events, noting how far ahead it is of others that are already extremely prestigious.

FIFA World Cup - 5 billion (viewers)

Tour de France - 3.5 billion (viewers)

Cricket World Cup - 2.6 billion (viewers)

Olympics - 2 billion (viewers)

Winter Olympics - 2 billion (viewers)

FIFA Women's World Cup - 2 billion (viewers)

UEFA Champions League - 380 million (viewers)

Super Bowl - 127 million (viewers)

Revenue from the 2026 World Cup is expected to reach nearly $11 billion. That includes $4.3 billion in broadcast rights alone, while sponsorships account for $2.8 billion.

Held across three countries, Mexico, Canada, and the United States, in massive stadiums, ticket sales revenue is also expected to break records. While ticket revenue for the Qatar World Cup was $950 million, the figure is expected to rise to $3 billion in 2026.

In addition to the fact that it will be held in more countries and feature more matches, ticket prices also influence these figures.

It is worth noting that these factors relate only to revenue tied to FIFA. However, the money generated by the World Cup goes far beyond that. Projections indicate that approximately $35 billion could be generated globally through the sports betting market. The figures are astronomical.

This is amplified by the globalization of World Cup broadcasts. In 2026, the competition is expected to be broadcast in more than 225 countries, the number reached during the 2022 edition held in Qatar.

This will be the largest World Cup in history

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature the new regulations adopted by FIFA, which increased the number of participating countries from 32 to 48. This significantly raises the number of matches, from 64 to 104.

There will be four additional groups in the initial phase and an extra round of knockout matches.

In other words, there will be 40 more matches available for betting starting with this edition. Consequently, betting activity at bookmakers will increase exponentially.

The fact that there are more countries also greatly increases the number of people directly involved in the competition, since many more nations will be able to cheer on their national teams. There will be four debutants: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Curaçao, and Cape Verde.

The involvement of a larger population in the competition is also reflected in the host cities. For the first time, the World Cup will be held in three countries.

All of them are expected to fill their stadiums, as football is gaining traction in Canada and the United States, while Mexico is historically one of the most football-crazy countries in the world. In total, there will be 16 stadiums. Here are the cities and the capacity of each one:

• Mexico City - 83,000
• Monterrey - 53,500
• Guadalajara - 45,000
• Toronto - 45,000
• Vancouver - 54,500
• Atlanta - 71,000
• Boston - 64,000
• Dallas - 80,000
• Philadelphia - 68,000
• Houston - 72,000
• Kansas City - 74,600
• Los Angeles - 70,000
• Miami - 65,000
• New Jersey - 82,000
• San Francisco - 68,000
• Seattle - 68,000

Bookmakers prepare strategies to further increase betting volume

The bigger a sports competition, the more interesting it is for bettors. After all, extensive statistical coverage and live broadcasts make it much easier to find data to base your bets on and place larger wagers. This alone would be a major draw for bookmaker users.

However, the platforms go further and offer even more incentives to their customers.

Those preparing to bet on the World Cup can expect many special promotions on virtually every match in the tournament. B

ookmakers will select certain odds for each game to be increased, encouraging a higher volume of bets. This applies to both single bets and bets involving multiple factors within a single match. In addition to promotions specific to selected matches, users can also use a Bizbet promo code to get more credit for any type of bet they want.

Furthermore, more betting markets tend to be made available to bookmaker users, particularly involving in-play betting during matches.

Since many more people are following the games, you can expect instant markets, such as those where bettors predict what will happen in the next few minutes of each match. These more complex markets are not usually available in smaller competitions.

Finally, it’s worth noting that sports betting platforms tend to feature special interfaces for live matches, displaying detailed statistics in real time.

This way, you can follow everything happening in the match on the same page where you place your bets. All of this can be done on a computer or a mobile phone.

In the latter case, betting apps are even more helpful, as they allow you to watch World Cup matches on big screens while placing bets on your mobile devices.