BetMGM, has announced a FIFA World Cup promotion - Goal Rush Grand Prize - in which the company will give away $500,000 in free bets for every goal the US team scores in the tournament. Bets will be shared equally between eligible bettors, and the offer will run as long as the Stars and Stripes continue in the tournament.
Expanded World Cup format
This year's FIFA World Cup is being jointly hosted in the US, Canada, and Mexico - the first time in the tournament's history it will be co-hosted by three nations. It has also been expanded to 48 teams, from the previous 32, and will run an extra seven days.
However, despite the changes, teams still only play three group games. Teams that progress further will take part in a newly created round of 32.
The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) will be hoping to reach the next round. They have been drawn in group D with Turkey, Australia, and Paraguay. The US will be considered the favorites to progress and the tournament commences on 11 June.
In Mauricio Pochettino, they have a world-class manager, while youngster Folarin Balogun has scored 19 goals in all competitions for Monaco, and likely represents the best chance of goals.
In the last World Cup, the US scored three goals in their four games at the tournament, drawing a blank against England but scoring in each of their games against Wales, Iran, and the Netherlands.
As co-hosts, they qualified automatically for this year's tournaments, so we don't have any qualifying group scoring records to go on. However, they have played against all of their group match oppositions in recent friendlies. Despite losing to Turkey, the US beat Australia and Paraguay, scoring five goals in the process.
The BetMGM World Cup offer
If they repeat the same results, BetMGM will pay out a total of $2.5M in bonus bets during the group stages. The terms of the offer mean that the bets are paid out per goal scored, and bettors are eligible for a share if they place a pre-match wager of at least $5 on the match. The bonus bets can't be withdrawn, and recipients have seven days to use them.
BetMGM's chief revenue officer, Matt Prevost, said: "BetMGM is built around delivering legendary moments, and there is no bigger stage in soccer than the World's Game. We're giving our players the opportunity to connect directly to the action with every goal scored by Team USA."
The World Cup is the world's biggest betting event. In the US, basketball and football tend to attract more betting attention, but with this World Cup being hosted in the country, analysts expect this year to be different.
Experts believe around $3B will be bet on matches during the 39-day event, which would exceed the money bet on Super Bowl LIX and would even rival this year's March Madness. If Team USA progress deeper into the tournament, that figure would increase substantially.
