Macquarie projects $50 billion in World Cup prediction market volume
Financial group Macquarie estimates that global betting volume will exceed $50 billion during the 2026 World Cup, according to an Igamingbrazil.com report. The figure underscores the rapid growth of event-contract platforms around major global sporting events. In the United States, the rapid growth of event contracts has sparked regulatory attention.
Macquarie's $50 billion forecast, if it materializes, would force CFTC regulators to treat event-contract volume as systemically significant rather than experimental. That raises the stakes for any enforcement action or rulemaking that arrives before the tournament final.
Macquarie’s $50 billion projection joins a Bernstein forecast of $10 billion in World Cup betting on prediction markets and record weekends by DraftKings Predictions and Robinhood’s Rothera, as sell-side and operator estimates diverge sharply on how much of the tournament flow stays on regulated U.S. venues.