The World Cup delivered a massive summer for sports betting and prediction-market platforms, but executives across the industry are preparing for the real fight: the NFL season.
During second-quarter earnings calls this week, executives from Penn Entertainment, BetMGM, and FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment all touched on the high levels of activity their platforms have seen this summer due to the World Cup. The same goes for prediction-market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket. Analysts at Jefferies noted the tournament generated a “record $20 billion” in prediction-market volumes, “by far the single biggest” event for prediction markets to date, “far exceeding volumes” from the previous largest event, the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
