Polymarket Annualized Revenue Hits $1 Billion on Record World Cup Trading Volume

Polymarket has crossed a milestone that would have seemed improbable two years ago: $1 billion in annualized revenue, reached just six weeks after the platform opened its U.S. exchange to American traders. The company shared the figure exclusively with CNBC on June 26, with the FIFA World Cup 2026 serving as the primary catalyst behind volumes that have reset industry benchmarks.

Daily trading volume on Polymarket’s U.S. platform jumped from roughly $50 million per day in mid-May to more than $200 million by June 20, according to data on Dune Analytics. That four-fold increase in roughly five weeks was driven almost entirely by World Cup engagement as American bettors flocked to prediction market platforms offering event contracts on match outcomes, group stage standings, and tournament-long futures.

What Record Volumes Look Like

The World Cup has generated numbers that put traditional sports betting handle figures in context. Polymarket’s soccer-category trading volume exceeded $2 billion in the ten days before the tournament began and grew roughly 300% from the prior period. Individual matches have drawn staggering volume — a single Norway vs. Senegal group stage match drew more than $32 million in trading, while a single trader placed $1.1 million on Croatia to beat Ghana on June 28.

Competitor platform Kalshi, the largest CFTC-regulated prediction market exchange, reported that its aggregated open interest crossed $1 billion for the first time during the World Cup, while total World Cup trading volume reached $17 billion in the first two weeks of the tournament alone. The figures reflect a fundamental shift in how a segment of sports bettors and traders are engaging with major sporting events.

U.S. Launch Accelerating Growth

Polymarket’s U.S. launch came after the platform completed compliance work needed to serve American customers — a process that had kept U.S. traders from using the platform legally for years. The timing of the U.S. rollout, coming just weeks before the World Cup, maximized the platform’s exposure to a high-volume event on American soil.

The $1 billion annualized revenue figure is calculated based on current fee income and trading activity projected forward, meaning it reflects the platform’s current operating rate rather than confirmed annual earnings. Sustaining volumes at anything close to current levels once the World Cup concludes will be the real test of whether prediction markets have permanently expanded the U.S. sports betting market or are experiencing a tournament-driven spike. Bettors looking to compare prediction market platforms can see the full breakdown at the sportsbook reviews hub or explore the latest sportsbook promotions.