They might not be great in the field, but the US has had quite the impact on this year’s World Cup nonetheless. In the first substantial contribution to “soccer” since 1930, the US played an important role in the betting records broken at this year’s Qatar World Cup.
Thanks to the dissolving of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 by the Supreme Court in 2018, US states have taken to sports betting like a duck to water. That means that since 2018, more and more people are participating in sports betting – especially worldwide tournaments.
Across the FIFA Qatar World Cup in Qatar, betting increased 13% from the last tournament in 2018, when sports betting was freshly left up to the states individually and legislation was still being written up. OpenBet said that sports betting performance in European players broke the record, and Canadian bettors saw an engagement level increase of 22%.
“Alongside a strong performance in Europe, the growth we have seen in North American markets demonstrates our ability to cater to these rapidly regulating jurisdictions,” OpenBet CEO Jordan Levin said. “This also puts us in good stead for the 2026 World Cup, set to be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.”
According to GeoComply, the World Cup final was only surpassed by the Super Bowl in America.
