The World is wagering!
Thanks to the improved play of the United States National Team and the massive promotional effort by ESPN, the Las Vegas Hilton’s Sportsbook is expecting action on the World Cup like never before.
“Four years ago, I don’t think they unveiled the [U.S.] national team on television,” said Jay Kornegay, the Hilton’s Executive Director of Race and Sports. “With ESPN building it up so much every day, it’s really helped us out, and there’s a lot of anticipation for it.”
The Post will publish World Cup betting lines daily.
Reports out of the United Kingdom say betting there alone could exceed 1 billion pounds, the equivalent of about $1.45 billion. Though the interest in soccer is not nearly as high in the United States, the Hilton, which routinely runs odds from elite leagues around the world such as Serie A in Italy, La Liga in Spain and the English Premier League, has developed a loyal soccer following.
But due to the struggling economy, Kornegay was concerned about the amount of business the World Cup would generate until recently.
“As the world has struggled in every industry, I wasn’t sure what kind of crowd that we were going to see,” Kornegay said. “But over the last few weeks it’s picked up. . . . The anticipation here is we’ll get 25-30 percent more [business] than four years ago because the interest level is much higher.”
Kornegay said that the quarterfinals, depending on the matchups, and certainly the semifinals and final each should compare to a low-level NFL game in terms of the amount wagered.
tbontemps@nypost.com
