As it did in many areas around the world, the 2018 FIFA World Cup soccer championship series provided some financial assistance to Taiwan. The country’s sports lottery saw a serious boost in sales in June, increasing by 73% to reach total revenue of $170 million. Even better, for the first half of the year, sports lottery sales were quadruple that amount, increasing by 11% year-on-year to reach $667.9 million.
The improvement follows a trend that began in 2013. According to information from the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), sports lottery sales revenue has increased every year since then. The sales in the first half of 2018 was 60% of the total sales for last year, $1.08 billion.
The majority of the lottery sales—81%—came from physical gambling locations, while only 1% was generated online. All proceeds, according to the DGBAS, from the lottery sales go directly for sports development in the country.
Around the world, the World Cup helped boost revenue for a number of countries. For example, France reported that sportsbooks covered $336 million in World Cup-related bets, almost double than what was seen in 2014. In the UK, over $3.2 billion was gambled, over twice the amount bet in the previous World Cup matches.
Not everyone was pleased with the betting practices, however. In Thailand, police arrested thousands of individuals over illegal World Cup gambling, seizing $35 million in the process.
Sports gambling has taken top billing as a global topic of discussion, alongside cryptocurrency. There are a number of debates on the subject and whether or not it should be legalized in virtually every jurisdiction of every country around the world. Some countries, such as Thailand and China, are still maintaining a strict hands-off attitude toward the activity while others, most notably the U.S., are rapidly embracing the industry.
If the reports are true, more than $150 billion was wagered on sports bets by U.S. gamblers through internationally licensed gambling facilities last year. With such as significant amount of revenue to be generated, it’s no surprise that there is a major push to legalize sports gambling in a number of states across the country.
