Lionel Laurent, Columnist

Gambling’s Global Coming-Out Party in Qatar

Betting firms may get their global breakout with the World Cup. It could also herald a flood of social and legal ills.

November 23, 2022 at 5:00 AM UTC

Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist writing about the future of money and the future of Europe. Previously, he was a reporter for Reuters and Forbes.

Moneyball.
Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg

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The Qatar World Cup got off to an inauspicious start this week: a loss for the host nation, a ban on drinking beer and the threat of a yellow card for players wearing anti-discrimination armbands.

And, for a gambling industry trying to capitalize on the potential $160-billion-plus tentpole football event, the own goal of a share-price slump at sports-bet firm DraftKings Inc. after customers reported their accounts were compromised and cash withdrawn.