BetMGM CEO Talks 2026 FIFA World Cup Popularity

**SPEAKER_1** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**Katie Greifeld** (0:07)
Well, the World Cup final set to boost US Sportsbooks, the team over at Bloomberg Intelligence crunching the numbers, noting that operators like DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM could be set for a moderate boost to the third quarter if underdog Argentina defeats Spain. Let's discuss with Adam Greenblatt. He is BetMGM CEO.
He joins us now as we head into this weekend's big matchup. And Adam, we were just talking with Andres Cantor. He, of course, is the famous play-by-play commentator for Telemundo. And he said that it was the Seattle games that really impress him when it comes to the fan presence. I'm taking a look at some of the stats you sent over. And it was the US Belgium game in Seattle, actually, that was your most bet on soccer match ever. Talk to us a little bit about what you're seeing when it comes to some of these specific matchups.

**Adam Greenblatt** (1:01)
Yes, absolutely. Well, in aggregate, the World Cup has dramatically exceeded our expectations. I think there's a theme here, and listening to the previous segments as well, exceeding expectations and breaking records. And BetMGM was no exception.
This tournament has been the most bet World Cup in BetMGM history. Overall volume for BetMGM has tripled. And that's not, you heard that right, 3X compared with the 2022 World Cup. And it keeps going. You know, we've got two more games ahead. The Argentina-Spain matchup for the final is really capturing the bettors' imagination. And so I guess the question for us is why. And from our perspective, there are several factors why it has become such a successful betting event.
And so far ahead of 2022 And that's, I think, partly as a result of the expanded tournament format. So we have more betting content, so more games, a broader range of betting markets. So what we are offering our bettors is much wider. And we're also following with betting opportunities the player storylines that the bettors have really got behind. Of course, our TAM has expanded since 2022 as well. And the fact that it's a tournament on our home soil has made all the difference. You know, the games are at the right time and you heard the viewing public and the support for soccer is at unprecedented levels.

**Randall Williams** (2:36)
Adam, every betting person that I've spoken with has been thrilled that this is the final. I wonder what was your immediate reaction when France and England lost earlier this week?

**Adam Greenblatt** (2:48)
You know, I went and got on my knees, I looked up at the heavens above and I said thank you. That was, you know, the fact that France was knocked out and isn't a finalist contender, that was gold for the sportsbooks.

**Katie Greifeld** (3:02)
And you know, it's funny, you mentioned that since 2022 that your TAM has expanded your total addressable market, but so too have your competitors because, I mean, you have the likes of the other sportsbooks, you have the FanDuel's of the world that you're competing with, but now you also have prediction markets, which have really just entered the public consciousness in the past few years or so. So how do you position BetMGM to sort of stay front of mind for these bettors looking someplace to place these bets?

**Adam Greenblatt** (3:35)
There's no doubt the competitive environment is fierce, but it's been fierce since the beginning. You know, we're focused at BetMGM, we're focused on how we win strategy, the BetMGM strategy, which frankly is creating legendary experiences both in person and in app. So that omni-channel strategy is very much central to BetMGM. And we cut through during the tournament with what we think, some really innovative offerings to our players. We started with what we call the Goal Rush Giveaway, where for every goal the US team scored, we would give our bettors who participated half a million dollars. And so when the tournament started and, you know, the tournament opener against Paraguay, where the USA won, scored four goals, it had me worried. You know, worried about what was to come. But overall, we awarded five and a half million dollars to our players in bonus bets. So that was one of the areas. We also had a two up early payout promotion, whereby if your team is up by two goals, regardless of the outcome, you get paid.
We also teamed up with one of our partners, Marriott Bonvoy, on something called the SI Beyond the Pitch sweepstakes. And just this weekend coming up, actually, the winners of this sweepstake get to attend the SI Beyond the Pitch party right here in New York, which is this weekend, as I said. And this is always a who's who of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. Now, of course, given our relationship with MGM Resorts, we've put on watch parties and activations all around the country at MGM Properties.