How major a sports betting event the 2026 World Cup was in the U.S. was felt across multiple states.
Key Takeaways
- The average year-over-year handle increase among the top-10 U.S. sports betting states in June reached 23.5%.
- That group of jurisdictions generated more than $7 billion in wagers for the month.
- New York and Maryland have already reported massive spikes in July.
While exact numbers are still being tallied, pre-tournament handle estimates were over $3 billion for the 104-match event, and there’s no question sportsbook operators felt a major bump.
“World Cup 2026 gave sportsbook operators what every major event promises: a larger audience and a major wave of new depositors,” Pini Yakuel, founder and CEO of Optimove, said in a report on the expanded number of bettors created by the event.
Only a couple of states have reported July figures, but with most of June’s handle and sports betting revenue reported, the month that featured 75 group-stage matches and a couple of the early knockout games produced significant increases among the jurisdictions with the most wagering.
All of the top 10 states ranked by handle saw at least a double-digit spike compared to June 2025, and the average wagering bump among that group was 23.5%. Last June, only three states from that group experienced year-over-year handle increases, and one had a reduction.
Illinois and Arizona, which typically rank among the top 10 in handle each month, had not released their June betting numbers at publication. These figures also don’t account for World Cup prediction market trading.
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Heavy interest
Nearly $7.2 billion was wagered among the top 10 states this June, a 13% increase from what those same states generated in June 2025. Typically, June kicks off a summer slowdown across U.S. sports betting states, with MLB being the only consistent sport. The NBA and NHL wrap up their championship series early in the month.
That all changed this year as World Cup betting met and even exceeded operator expectations across the industry.
“This World Cup will go down as the biggest betting event in American history – we're talking the equivalent of 10 Super Bowls,” Hard Rock Bet SVP of sportsbook Neil Walsh told ESPN last month. “A sport we were once told Americans would not embrace turned into one for the history books. The whole country wanted in.”
The U.S. men’s national team had group-stage success, capturing massive attention from bettors. The World Cup also expanded its format from 2022, when the event generated an estimated $1.8 billion in wagering. It also helped that matches were held in favorable time zones for U.S. bettors compared to World Cups that have previously been held in Europe or Asia.
State increases
| Top 10 States | June 2026 Handle | Year-over-year Change |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $2.25 billion | +36.6% |
| New Jersey | $917.2 million | +16% |
| Ohio | $658.9 million | +12.4% |
| Massachusetts | $615.1 million | +15.5% |
| North Carolina | $589.6 million | +36.1% |
| Virginia | $589.2 million | +23.3% |
| Nevada | $587.6 million | +16.5% |
| Pennsylvania | $570.3 million | +18% |
| Maryland | $523.3 million | +29.6% |
| Tennessee | $460.5 million | +30.7% |
Three jurisdictions saw a 30% or higher year-over-year handle spike. New York led everyone at 36.6%, which is not a surprise considering the New York Knicks winning the NBA Finals certainly helped shape the month, but there was likely still plenty of World Cup addition as well.
The most lucrative legal sports betting state generated the most wagers ever during a month that excludes the NFL season and March Madness.
North Carolina’s handle went up more than 30% for just the second time ever in the Tar Heel State. Wagering in Tennessee rose 30%. Neither state hosted any World Cup matches.
“Summer can sometimes be a slower time in general,” Stephanie Maxwell, the deputy director and general counsel for the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council, told WKRN. “Once the NBA season is over, kind of waiting for the NFL season to start and college sports to start back, so I imagine this is related to the World Cup and the interest in that.”
Maryland was close with a 29.6% increase. Handles for the rest of the top 10 rose by at least 12.4%, with sports betting in Virginia reaching 23.3%. Michigan, which just missed out on the top 10, saw wagering spike over 20% compared to June 2025.
Spotty holds
While June handles were up across the board, operators in states with the largest handles varied greatly in revenue.
The Knicks did a number on New York online sportsbooks, which only won back 5.2% of the state’s handle. New Jersey joined neighboring New York with a hold under 7%, while Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland were the only states to report double-digit win rates.
North Carolina, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania finished with holds above 8% in June.
Bracing for more impact
Maryland is the only state in the top 10 that releases sport-by-sport handles. Bettors in the Old Line State wagered $18 million on soccer in June 2025. Single bets on the sport spiked to $62.6 million in June 2026, a 248% increase, and accounted for 12% of all wagering, ahead of pro baseball and pro basketball.
Maryland is one of just two states to report July’s handle at publication. The state’s $496.4 million grew year-over-year by a significant 36.3%, and the $62.9-million handle for soccer made up 12.7% of Maryland’s handle.
New York’s $1.88-billion July handle grew by 34.3% compared to the same month in 2025.
“There was some uncertainty around the impact of an extended tournament format, but World Cup fever took hold following the USMNT's promising start, and that enthusiasm continued throughout the knockout stages and into the final,” said Mark Bickerdike, the head of soccer at Caesars Sportsbook.
