Chinese sports lottery World Cup betting sales reach US$11.6bn
China Sports Lottery figures show wagering peaked during the first week of the knockout stage.
China.- Bets placed through China’s state-run sports lottery during the 2026 FIFA World Cup reached CNY83.3bn (US$11.6bn), according to data from the China Sports Lottery. The highest weekly sales were recorded between June 29 and July 5, coinciding with the opening week of the knockout stage, when bets exceeded CNY17.20bn (US$2.40bn).
According to the China Sports Lottery, sales totalled CNY6.87bn (US$957m) during the opening week, followed by CNY15.15bn (US$2.11bn), CNY16.27bn (US$2.27bn), CNY17.20bn (US$2.40bn), CNY16.84bn (US$2.35bn) and CNY10.98bn (US$1.53bn) in the week leading up to the final.
Social media platform Weibo has said that it intensified enforcement against illegal gambling during the tournament. The company reported removing more than 100,000 posts promoting unauthorised lottery sales, illegal betting and gambling-related traffic redirection. It also shut down 120 groups linked to illegal gambling and sanctioned more than 50,000 accounts through temporary or permanent bans.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, its World Cup coverage generated more than 70 billion cross-media views, with the final between Argentina and Spain reaching a cumulative audience of 282 million viewers across its platforms.
