Global Gaming Insider gains expert opinions and analysis on the World Cup from Rainer Geier, EVP, Group Product, Sportradar Chris Nikolopoulos, CCO, Betby Ryan Hughes, Head of Trading, Kambi and Edmond Ghulyan, Chief Product Officer on Sportsbook and Centrivo Product Solutions, Digitain. 

How do you solve a problem like time zones? 

Rainer Geier: This World Cup going going to be truly remarkable. The competition will be hosted across 16 cities spanning four times. In total there are 13 different kick-off times which includes matches at 05.00 BST. The good news for European operators is that the most common kick-off time is 20.00 BST, which is in line with domestic football competitions and bodes well for in-play engagement. There’s a high enough level of interest in the competition for time differences not to cause too much concern for operators, but for matches where the kick-off times are less favourable, operators can upweight their pre-match offering.

Chris Nikolopoulos: Time zones are a real issue for this World Cup. The best way to counter this is to keep users entertained until the next live match. How? With football “on” at all times. For instance, Betby built an eWorld Cup that mirrors all the brackets of the real tournament, so even if there’s a four-hour gap before a 1am match of a user’s national team, they can still have dozens of games running with that team. On top of that, prediction markets can be a good complement. They’re really popular and, besides covering all kinds of topics, they also include football-related markets like “Will Argentina reach the final?” or “Who will be Real Madrid’s next coach?”

Ryan Hughes: The multi‑host nature of the 2026 World Cup across the US, Canada and Mexico inevitably creates challenges around kick‑off times, particularly for European audiences, with some matches scheduled overnight. Our global footprint ensures continuity and consistency in decision‑making regardless of when matches take place. From a trading standpoint, the tournament will be the first World Cup fully priced and traded by AI across both pre‑match and in‑play markets. This ensures bettors receive the same high‑quality experience, sharp pricing and wide coverage at any hour of the day or night.

Edmond Ghulyan: Time zones are a structural challenge during a global event like the World Cup, but they can be managed effectively through smart product design and automation. One key approach is strengthening pre-match market depth, ensuring users have access to a wide range of betting options well ahead of kick-off, regardless of their local time. Features like AutoBet play an important role here, allowing users to predefine odds, stakes and conditions so bets are placed automatically. Regional personalisation is also becoming increasingly important during global tournaments. User behaviour differs significantly across LatAm, Asia and European markets, from preferred bet types to peak engagement hours. Operators that can localise market offerings, notifications, CRM communication and promotional timing by region will be far better positioned across different time zones.

How will retention strategies be uniquely tailored for the World Cup, both during and after?

RG: AI-driven solutions are helping marketers to make sense of the data and deliver effective and efficient CRM campaigns. For example, Sportradar offers World Cup 2026 tailored insights which can be used to improve prediction accuracy of player churn probability, wagering amount and number of active days. One other consideration from a retention point of view is the reactivation of players. Every operator has a database that is inactive. By using reactivation models, personalisation rewards and offering of outright markets, operators can engage their lapsed customers with tailored offers to yield positive ROI.

CN: This is the million-dollar question for all operators. During the tournament, you need to offer a seamless experience and real-time personalisation plays a big role here, showing each user an adapted interface with markets based on the teams they follow, their interests, the players they back and how they usually bet. On top of this, you need dynamic promotions and boosted odds, as well as alternative verticals to keep the momentum between matches. After the World Cup, the approach changes completely. You need to guide users towards other competitions and sports they’ve shown interest in, giving them recommendations that feel relevant and reactivating them based on how they behaved during the tournament. Having a broad content portfolio is crucial here. 

RH: From Kambi’s perspective, product quality remains one of the most powerful long‑term retention tools available. If bettors don’t have a seamless, engaging experience during the World Cup, they are unlikely to return once the tournament ends. 
That is why Kambi will deliver both UX improvements and its most in‑depth offering to date, both pre‑match and live, powered entirely by our AI trading system.

EG: Retention during the World Cup is driven by sustained engagement rather than short-term spikes, and this is where product innovation becomes critical. Certain features allow users to follow the broader tournament narrative, not just individual matches, encouraging daily interaction across multiple matchdays. Bet builder and advanced player prop experiences will also play a major role in retention during the tournament. Users increasingly expect personalised betting journeys built around players, statistics and custom combinations rather than only traditional match outcomes. At the same time, tools like Super Sub add flexibility and fairness. After the tournament, retention shifts toward maintaining that connection. Operators can use behavioural data collected during the event to personalise post-World Cup offers and campaigns.

Do you expect fierce competition from any alternative verticals this year?

RG: It’s interesting because I don’t see esports, sweeps, prediction markets (and so on) as alternative verticals. They’re components that complement a comprehensive sports betting offering. It’s important that operators have the content that meets the needs of their customers. Operators that provide their customers with the deepest range of sports betting and iGaming products will likely enjoy a successful World Cup.

CN: I think “competition” is not the right word here. Players don’t really think in verticals, they just want an intuitive and seamless experience. One moment they’re betting on a World Cup match, the next they might look at esports or sweepstakes. Making that shift feel natural is what helps you keep them. At Betby, for example, you can move from the World Cup hub straight into our prediction markets feed, Betby Predictions, without friction. It all sits in the same environment, which is key because users don’t feel the need to switch platforms regardless of their mood. 

RH: Prediction markets have clearly become a hot industry topic in recent months. Kambi has been clear that this is not an area we intend to pursue for the foreseeable future. What we have seen is an increase in commentary around whether prediction markets could impact acquisition costs and, while it remains early days, the World Cup may offer insights into how significant that effect is. In contrast, we don’t see esports as a competing vertical at all. Instead, it is a strong complementary product. It helps keep bettors engaged during gaps between live matches and off‑season periods, a trend likely to intensify as World Cup interest builds.

EG: Alternative verticals like prediction markets and esports will certainly attract attention, but their competitive impact during the World Cup is likely to remain limited. The core strength of traditional sportsbooks is in live betting, player props and complex bet types. While the mentioned alternative verticals may appeal to niche audiences or complement the broader ecosystem, they do not currently offer the same level of engagement or scalability.

How do you expect AI’s influence on sports betting to manifest this World Cup? 

RG: I think this is the first World Cup tournament where the technology has existed to process, analyse and act on live sporting events at low latency. From a marketing point of view, this combination allows operators to deliver adverts that are synchronised with game moments, enhancing their impact and relevance to audiences. I expect operators to increase marketing spend towards this form of real-time data activation as they seek to drive engagement with fans during a live match. I also can see a World Cup where brands, not just betting operators, are seizing on these ‘moments that matter’ to unlock new revenue opportunities.

CN: On the user side, operators need to make things as easy and intuitive as possible. Smarter recommendations, personalised odds and contextual nudges that actually make sense, like suggesting a market based on how someone usually bets or what’s happening live in a game, really make a difference. On the operational side, speed, accuracy and uptime are key. This includes better trading coverage, sharper risk management and faster reactions to what’s happening in-play, such as market inefficiencies. AI helps spot patterns and anomalies much quicker than before, and operators need to take advantage of that. If you can combine both, you get a product that feels more responsive. 

RH: Across the sports betting industry, both operators and suppliers are adopting AI in a variety of ways, but Kambi’s focus has been firmly on pricing and trading. Our AI trading system was first introduced at the 2022 World Cup and has grown rapidly since. Last year, it powered 48% of bets across the Kambi network, and that figure has now risen to over 60% as more sports are incorporated. This World Cup will be the first fully priced and traded by AI, marking a significant milestone. Bettors will benefit from sharper odds, broader markets and greater combinability, both pre‑match and live.

EG: AI’s real impact during the World Cup will be seen in operational speed and decision-making efficiency rather than surface-level features like chatbots. Operators will face an enormous volume of simultaneous decisions, from adjusting odds and managing exposure to suspending markets in real time. AI-driven systems can process these actions instantly, ensuring pricing accuracy and platform stability under peak load. At the same time, a new generation of bettors will increasingly rely on AI-powered tools, including real-time arbitrage scanners and automated betting strategies, enabling them to act faster and 
more precisely.

What is the strategic cornerstone of a successful 2026 World Cup for betting operators?

RG: In-play betting presents the biggest revenue-generating opportunity for operators during this expanded World Cup of 104 matches. Innovative bet types such as in-play player markets and custom bet type products require less knowledge of the sport or team or odds, and allow operators to unlock greater commercial opportunity. With that in mind, 
I expect to see greater engagement with multi-bets and bet builders over the course of the tournament, as they provide operators with an effective means of engaging the new and casual bettors that find a World Cup so attractive to bet on.

CN: The real value lies in what happens after the tournament. Everyone will acquire a lot of new users, so the focus must be on keeping them. During the event, you need to maximise engagement, increase ARPU, drive more activity and offer strong coverage. But long term, it comes down to CRM and personalisation. Using data collected during the World Cup to re-engage users, guiding them into other competitions they’re interested in and keeping them active. If you can turn that short burst of attention into an engaged user, you’ve had a successful World Cup.

RH: For Kambi, the cornerstone is clear: delivering our best World Cup offering ever while providing a premium product and service to our partners. Everything we do is built around partner success. If our partners perform well during the tournament and are well positioned for sustained growth afterwards, then Kambi has achieved its goals. That means combining market‑leading technology, depth of offering, operational reliability and support throughout the event. The World Cup is not just a short‑term revenue opportunity, but a chance to strengthen long‑term relationships and showcase the full strength of our sportsbook platform, which is why we are so excited for the tournament to begin.

EG: The key to a successful World Cup is not marginally better odds but delivering a seamless and reliable user experience. Casual bettors, who make up a significant portion of the event’s audience, prioritise ease of use, platform stability and engaging features over small pricing differences. Operators that succeed will be those who have invested in infrastructure capable of handling high traffic, ensuring fast bet placement and minimal downtime. At the same time, having well-prepared CRM strategies from day one allows for consistent communication and engagement throughout the tournament. Overall, success is defined not just by acquisition, but by the ability to retain those users long term.