The Super Bowl pulls in around 200 million viewers. The last World Cup final pulled in 1.5 billion.
Now add legal betting across most of the U.S. for the first time. That mix could make this the biggest gambling event in history.
The U.S. betting market has changed fast since 2022. Back then, about 40% of Americans could legally place a bet.
Today it's closer to 65%. The tournament is bigger too, with 104 matches instead of 64.
The field is bigger as well, with 48 teams in all. The final lands at MetLife Stadium near New York.
More games and more access point the same way. One bank, Macquarie, thinks global bets could top $50 billion.
That's up from $35 billion four years ago. It would make this the biggest gambling event the world has seen.
We break down which companies cash in on moments like this every morning in Market Briefs - a five-minute read with a free investing masterclass included when you join.
The biggest sportsbooks have the most to gain. Analysts point to Flutter, which owns FanDuel, and to DraftKings.
Both can sell soccer bettors on other products later. That's where the real money sits.
One bank, Deutsche Bank, sees about $3.3 billion bet in the U.S. alone. It expects FanDuel to take the biggest slice, with DraftKings close behind.
Caesars is going all in too. It's offering about ten times more bet types than it did in 2022.
DraftKings is already feeling it. Its stock jumped 11% on Tuesday after it said trading volume rose 34% in a single month.
Sports-data firms win here too. They sell the live numbers that power every bet.
There's a newer player this time. They are prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket.
These markets let people trade on outcomes, like Spain winning the final. It works a lot like learning to trade stocks, just on sports.
Together they hit a record $7 billion in bets in one week. Kalshi alone is running close to 500 World Cup markets.
A data firm called Sportradar even signed a deal with Kalshi. It will feed the platform numbers on soccer and more.
Fans can also bet right from their phones in more places than ever. The catch is legal, with several states fighting over whether these markets are even allowed.
Daily games for a month make this a huge draw. They also make it easy for a casual bet to turn into a habit.
Watchdogs worry about that, and they have a point. One expert called the World Cup "March Madness on steroids" for betting.
Flutter's boss put the size in plain terms. About 5 billion people watched the last World Cup in some form.
Some bettors even open several accounts just to grab sign-up deals. Millennials are the most likely to play.
For an industry that's waited years for a moment this big, the whistle is about to blow.
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