If you are asking when does the world cup start, the answer is June 11: the 2026 World Cup opens that day and will be staged across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States, featuring 48 teams and 104 matches.
The scale is the story: 48 teams instead of 32, 104 matches instead of the previous tournament’s slate, and venues spread across three countries. That setup alone guarantees more kickoff moments in prime‑time for North American audiences and a tournament that stretches across weeks rather than a tight overseas window.
The other headline is money. Americans legally wagered $1.8 billion on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Betting firms and prediction platforms are forecasting a much larger haul this time: Bookies.com projects $3.1 billion in online sports bets, while prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket are expected to handle another $2.4 billion. A recent PwC survey of more than 2,000 adults found 58% of Americans plan to bet on the World Cup, and roughly a third of those say they will wager at least $250.
There are concrete reasons the numbers are growing. The tournament’s larger size and the fact it is being hosted in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. put more matches on convenient time slots for American viewers, increasing exposure and creating more betting opportunities. Seven new states have approved sports betting since the 2022 tournament, expanding legal access and the pool of potential bettors.
That combination—more matches, more viewers in prime time, and more states with legal betting—explains why operators and prediction platforms are preparing for a significant uptick. The PwC poll was conducted in April 2026 and underpins expectations that this World Cup could redraw the map of sports wagering revenue for the region.
Yet the boom is not without friction. Lawmakers in New Jersey have already introduced a bill that would add a 10% surcharge on World Cup wagers, a move that highlights the tension between capturing tax revenue and keeping customers at regulated sportsbooks. If states pursue heavy levies, betting volume could shift, or bettors might seek lower‑cost alternatives, including offshore or informal channels—outcomes that would blunt the projected windfall for state coffers.
Prediction markets add another wrinkle. The projection that Kalshi and Polymarket could handle $2.4 billion suggests a significant portion of activity may flow to platforms that sit outside traditional sportsbook models and existing regulatory frameworks. That raises questions about how regulators will treat those markets and whether new rules will follow to bring them into the same tax and consumer‑protection regimes as standard bookmakers.
The 2026 World Cup will be a test case for how high‑profile global sport can reshape the domestic betting landscape. With the tournament starting June 11 across 16 cities in three countries and with billions predicted to move through sportsbooks and prediction platforms, the immediate question for policymakers is whether to tax and regulate aggressively or to prioritize market growth. The answer—beginning with responses to New Jersey’s 10% surcharge proposal—will determine whether governments capture a new revenue stream or sow the conditions for bettors to find alternatives outside regulated channels.
