DraftKings knows how big the summer is going to be and is pulling out all the stops for the 2026 World Cup.
Key Takeaways
- DraftKings’ product infusion is set to appeal to casual and intense soccer bettors this summer.
- The operator is offering sports products in all 50 states for the first time during the World Cup.
- DraftKings’ betting markets will reflect the big draw that is the USMNT.
And why wouldn’t it? The U.S. is hosting the premier soccer tournament on the planet at a time when the online sportsbook, fantasy, and prediction market operator is delivering sports content in some capacity to all 50 states.
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“It's extra excitement for us on that,” Greg Karamitis, DraftKings executive vice president and general manager, told Covers this week. “We're able to deliver sports content nationwide pretty much now, so for us it's a big moment of basically, you know, there's going to be this huge international ecosystem, everyone's going to be pumped, and for us it's all about let's give content and offering to as many people as we can out there.”
Karamitis was unable to give out handle projections, but based on the last World Cup, the Euros two years ago, and other international soccer tournaments, this will clearly be one of the biggest summer betting events the company has ever seen.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account“The World Cup is a worldwide event,” Karamitis said. “I don't want to take anything away from other (sports) leagues, but the summer is quieter, with no basketball, hockey, or football running, and no college sports. So, World Cup just totally changes the dynamics, and it ends up being a massive, massive handle number for us over the summer.”
Improving product
With the expanded World Cup delivering 104 matches, up from 64 in 2022, and a time zone that will capture casual and hardcore soccer bettors, DraftKings has been planning for this event for over two years.
Karamitis said the operator began having internal conversations about the World Cup before the 2024 European Championships and used that tournament to begin modeling how it wanted to handle this year's tournament and educate new soccer bettors.
“We view it as a massive, massive, massive moment to sort of engage users,” Karamitis said.
DraftKings was still a relatively new gaming product during the previous World Cup, which was held in Qatar. Widely legalized sports betting was only four years old, and DraftKings was only operating in about 17 states. Heading into the June 11 start of the World Cup, the sportsbook is available in 30 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Ontario, Canada.
DraftKings has especially focused on delivering consistent real-time odds to give live bettors every opportunity to get a wager in during a match in a sport that provides time to explore those kinds of markets.
“We've actually done a ton of work to make sure that we can really expand a lot of our player props, offering a ton of our SGPs, a lot of our overall live content. Really make sure we knew how to execute those moments,” Karamitis said.
Developed for this
The timing of this summer’s main event couldn’t be better for DraftKings, which has been releasing new products for the last several months that fit perfectly into the kind of betting interest the World Cup will create. The operator launched its first trading platform, DraftKings Predictions, in December 2025, allowing customers in states without a legal sportsbook to buy sports contracts on World Cup matches.
DraftKings also has a “Super App” that allows its sportsbook, online casino, horse racing, daily fantasy, and prediction products to be merged into a single platform. The DFS app, available in 44 states, will be geared toward single-match showdown competitions.
The company’s Spanish-language sportsbook launched in November 2025, an app that will draw major attention with numerous high-profile Latin American national teams competing in the U.S.
“A lot of the focus on our Spanish product and getting it live late last year was so we had time to work on it this year and make sure it's really in great shape, so that as the World Cup comes around, and there is going to be a lot of extra enthusiasm coming from probably primarily Spanish-speaking people as well,” Karamitis said. “We have a great product offering for them.”
DraftKings developed a social betting experience inside its sportsbook app last year, giving customers an already formed community for this summer’s tournament. Karamitis said the operator is expanding those sharing and group-participation features throughout its products to enhance engagement.
“And then we've also built a Discord channel now, which I think is actually one of the largest Discord channels out there,” Karamitis said. “We've got like 600,000 people in it, really, really engaged, people are just talking about content nonstop. Sports is inherently something you engage with, with your friends, with your family, with your coworkers, with everything, like it's the backdrop of conversation across the U.S.”
The perfect blend
Karamitis said DraftKings will be releasing its promotional betting plans in the coming days, as the company was still narrowing down how it wants to attract bettors. Regardless, DraftKings Sportsbook is focused on offering betting markets that are appealing to both novice and experienced bettors, especially when it comes to the U.S. men’s national team.
“I think for the casual fan that's coming in for the first time, it's going to be a lot,” Karamitis said. “USA to win, USA to win in overtime, things like that, spreads. You're always gonna have how far is the USA going to go. Is it going to make it out of group? Is it going to make it through the knockouts? Can they make it all the way to the final?
“The casual interest is really going to be how far the USA goes in every match.”
Karamitis says “intense” soccer fans will enjoy DraftKings’ robust player props, like goal-scorers, and in-depth markets like corners taken and five-minute duration scoring.
Worldwide event
Karamitis expects to see other teams like Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, France, and Norway to see significant action.
The Canadian men's national team will be heavily bet on in Ontario, as soccer is a top-three sport for DraftKings in the province. And with Alberta launching regulated sports betting July 13, there will be a massive wagering draw for the operator if the Canadian squad is still around.
“Futures are already moving,” Karamitis said. “I think you'll start to see a lot of the action, like making out of the knockout rounds, or making it out of the group stage, and into the knockout rounds, coming over the next week. It’s a general pattern for us. The closer you get to the event, the more the enthusiasm sort of builds up.”
