After the introduction of sports betting in more and more US states, it turns out that soccer is quite popular among US bettors with a BettorOff survey showing that about half of US sports fans plan on placing bets on soccer matches from the FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar from November 20 to December 18, 2022.
Almost Half of US Sports Fans Are Going to Bet on the Upcoming FIFA World Cup
Social media sports betting platform BettorOff conducted a survey that probed US bettors’ attitudes towards betting on the upcoming soccer world cup in Qatar.
The survey included 1,500 respondents who claim to be sports fans. The representative sample included only residents in the 21 US states where sports betting has been made legal.
Surprisingly, US sports fans showed a lot of interest in the FIFA World Cup despite soccer not being as popular in the US as football or baseball, for example.
49% of the respondents in the BettorOff survey stated that they are planning on placing bets on the FIFA World Cup that starts on November 20 in Qatar.
Soccer seems to be gradually gaining popularity in the United States as the survey showed 18% of sports fans will be betting on the sport for the first time.
As many as 74% want to keep betting on soccer even after the tournament is over. This further highlights that soccer is becoming popular among US bettors and sportsbooks should consider expanding the soccer product offerings in the US.
Sports Betting on Soccer in the US Is Going to Enjoy a Major Expansion in the Coming Years
Considering that the next FIFA World Cup taking place in 2026 is going to be hosted in North America with most of the soccer match venues located in the US, sports wagering on soccer in the US is about to become even more attractive and the soccer sports betting market in the country is expected to expand exponentially in the upcoming years.
Alex Dubin, CEO and founder of BettorOff, highlighted the opportunities soccer betting holds for sports betting stakeholders: “There is an exciting intersection of interest and opportunity surrounding the World Cup. As pro soccer and online sports betting explode across the US, we expect this World Cup to be a tipping point for soccer fans and bettors across the country.”
The previous FIFA World Cup held in Russia in 2018 achieved a worldwide sports wagering handle of $146 billion. Back then sports betting was legalized in only three US states – Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey. Currently, sports bets can be placed legally from 21 states, and during the next few years ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup more US jurisdictions will join the sports betting party.
Considering all these factors, US soccer sports betting is expected to explode in the next few years, offering US sportsbooks considerable revenue opportunities.