Adam Greenblatt (BetMGM): the World Cup tripled our volume — and US vs Belgium was the most-bet game ever

On Bloomberg Television, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt discussed the 2026 World Cup — the most successful betting event in the company's history: tripled volume, the most-bet game of all time, and the Argentina vs Spain final that captured bettors' imagination.

A World Cup that 'dramatically exceeded' expectations

Greenblatt opened with numbers that define the tournament.

In aggregate, the World Cup has dramatically exceeded our expectations. This tournament has been the most bet World Cup in MGM history. Overall volume for BetMGM has tripled — three times compared with the 2022 World Cup.

The growth came from multiple factors: the expanded format, more markets, more games — and a home tournament in the US.

Partly as a result of the expanded tournament format. We have more betting content, more games, a broader range of betting markets. And the fact that it's a tournament on our home soil has made all the difference.

US vs Belgium: the most-bet game in history

The tournament's highlight, Greenblatt says, was the Seattle clash.

The US-Belgium game — the number of bets we took in that game was more than any NBA Finals game ever, any Stanley Cup Finals game, and any World Series game.

The caveat shows the scale of the American market:

Of course, NFL is king and the Super Bowl is still king. We took eight times more bets on the Super Bowl than on that game. But what this is telling us is that soccer is on the map.

The upset effect

Greenblatt was asked about the impact of France and England's eliminations — and the answer was surprisingly honest.

I went on my knees, I looked up at the heavens above and I said, thank you. The fact that France was knocked out and isn't a finalist contender, that was gold for the sportsbooks.

The explanation is the emotional nature of the product:

Product, at the end of the day, is an entertainment product. It's an emotional product. Our players follow their hearts most of the time. When we have very high profile upsets like France's departure, we should, in theory, achieve a theoretical margin.

Fierce competition — and the omnichannel answer

With prediction markets entering public consciousness, Greenblatt acknowledges competitive pressure — but bets on BetMGM's strategy.

There's no doubt the competitive environment is fierce. But it's been fierce since the beginning. We are focused on the BetMGM strategy, which frankly is creating legendary experiences both in-person and in-app. That omnichannel strategy is very much central to BetMGM.

The tournament activations show the thesis in practice: the Gold Rush ($5.5M in bonuses), the two-up early payout, the Marriott Bonvoy partnership, and ambassador Tim Howard — all anchored in MGM's physical properties.

Why it matters

Adam Greenblatt leads BetMGM — the joint venture between MGM Resorts and Entain, one of the biggest players in American iGaming. His read of the 2026 World Cup shows how the sector is scaling: absolute records, soccer reaching the top, and the response to new competition.