The World Cup has sportsbooks on pace to reverse six consecutive months of year-on-year decline, with June handle tracking 26% higher than last June in the 24 states that have reported results for that month.
Some of that likely came from the New York Knicks’ five-game run through the NBA Finals, as evidenced by an eye-popping 36% year-on-year boost for sportsbooks in New York. But the World Cup likely accounted for the bulk of the turnaround.
North Carolina also saw a 36% bump over last year. The only state to decline was Kansas, which no longer benefits from a vast pool of Missouri border-crossers.
The digits:
