In 2010, 3.2 billion people tuned-in to watch the World Cup that finally culminated in Spain becoming the world champion. This year, that number is expected to climb even more, marking a much needed boost in viewership and marketing sales potential for the TV medium that has continually taken a hit as multimedia has moved into an ever more digital world. Even in the United States, where futbol is looked at with mild derision, viewers of the game have steadily increased since the first foot was put on the pitch last week.

From FIFA to ESPN to the plethora of national channels across the world, the popularity of the World Cup means sponsors and individual organizations are going to make a ton of money on the international event. What few realize, however, is that there’s another economy that springs up as the teams of the world vie for the championship.

Close Calls Are the Name of the Game
Many cities across the world light up as people shuffle into them hoping for some legal action. Las Vegas, the Sin City of North America, is one such place. For the Super Bowl, the World Cup, and many other major events, Las Vegas handles millions of dollars a year for people looking to get rich quick. To give you an idea of how crazy the stakes get, one man bet $350 thousand to win only $30,000 on the Argentina v. Iran game. 

In the last seconds of that June 21 match, Lionel Messi scored a win for Argentina, sending Argentinians into a euphoric frenzy and keeping this one mad gambler from losing over $350 thousand. Without a doubt, that particular bettor wasn’t listening to his bookmaker. One of the draws of going to Vegas is that professional bookmakers are on hand to use data to give gamblers an idea of the odds of winning on certain bets, trends bettors would be smart to follow. In the case of the Argentina v. Iran bet, it seems the gambler was right to go against smart money.

Do you bet on the World Cup? Let us know about your fortunes so far in the comments below!