Eliminated Teams, But Not Eliminated Bettors at World Cup
Posted on: May 26, 2026, 12:42h.
Last updated on: May 26, 2026, 12:42h.
- World Cup study gets into retention opportunities for operators
- Study says 65% of American bettors intend to keep wagering even after national teams are ousted
- Canadian operators talk about unique engagement opportunities that the World Cup offers
Most 2026 FIFA World Cup bettors intend to keep wagering even after their national team has been eliminated from the tournament, an Optimove Insights study has revealed.
Time to Refine Retention Strategies
In the company’s 2026 US World Cup Betting Intentions Report, only three per cent of those surveyed said they will stop betting entirely, with 65 per cent planning to continue betting after their national team is out.
The opening match for the World Cup is in Mexico City on June 11, and runs with matches in Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, with the final scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Other highlights from the Optimove study: 17 per cent plan to continue betting at a reduced frequency, after their team gets ousted. Also, when their team is out, 67 per cent said they will follow a star player they admire (France’s Mbappé, Brazil’s Vinicius Jr., and England’s Bellingham named most often), 46 per cent will support an underdog, and 43 per cent will bet on the team that eliminated their national team.
World Cup Opens in Mexico June 11
Optimove provides AI-driven CRM and marketing automation tools igaming and sports betting operators, helping operators personalize player engagement, retention, bonuses and ongoing lifecycle marketing. The organization often releases marketing studies around big sporting events, like March Madness for NCAA men’s and women’s basketball finals, and the Super Bowl.
According to Pini Yakuel, Founder and CEO of Optimove, based on the survey findings, the World Cup is an opportunity for operators to refine their retention strategies – since two-thirds of U.S. bettors indicating their intention to stay in the game is significant.
Almost three-quarters of U.S. bettors plan to place at least one wager on the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with 60 per cent of those people describing themselves as very confident in their betting knowledge about the event. Another 24 per cent describe themselves as moderately confident.
76% Said They Will Continue to Bet After World Cup Ends
Eighty-four per cent plan to engage with live or in-play betting, with 58 per cent planning multiple bets per match. Sixty per cent said that an offer or bet tied to their team or the players they follow is the most important factor in whether they open a sportsbook communication.
A whopping 76 per cent said they will continue to bet on soccer after the World Cup ends, with 70 per cent moving to UEFA Champions League, 58 per cent to the English Premier League, and 53 per cent to La Liga. Sixty-nine per cent plan to use two or more sportsbooks during the World Cup.
As Yakuel added, the majority of American bettors surveyed are open to a reason stay involved.
Canadian Summit Panel on World Cup Betting
Those are the types of lessons Canadian-based operators are taking to heart, according to a panel discussion on the topic at last week’s SBC Summit Canada held in Toronto. Vancouver and Toronto are both hosting matches, with 104 games, 48 teams, over 40 days overall. Anthony Gaud, Founder & CEO, Gaud-Hammer Gaming Group, and the host of the panel, described the size and scale of the World Cup from a betting perspective as “40 times” the size of the Super Bowl.
Operators in Canada are banking on a surge of new bettors and brand engagement, with a heavy marketing focus on personalization, said Tim Whitehead, Director, Sportsbook Operations, DraftKings.
The time zone is a big difference, favourable for North American players” he said. “There’s the local representation, the fandom. Canada has their best team ever (currently ranked 30th in the world, according to FIFA), a favourite to make it out of the group stage. If Canada, U.S. and Mexico can make deeper runs into the tournament, that’s going to increase the engagement and the staying power of the tournament from a sales perspective.”
Home Team Advantage
Whitehead said DraftKings will be putting out the most player props and team markets than they’ve ever had before. Greg Sindall, Senior Director Digital Sports Product, iSports Product, OLG, called the World Cup, “the last big, real acquisition opportunity” for the Ontario igaming market, adding that they are expecting 46 per cent of Ontarians to make a bet on the event.
The final of the last World Cup was played in December 2022, eight months after the Ontario regulated igaming market went live, so operators can apply the lessons learned from the first one, added Sindall.
Yohan Mathew, Director of Marketing, BetMGM, said they will be leaning into local with their promotional campaigns.
“At the same time we’ll honestly be following the storyline of the tournament and watching the underdogs come rising up, or see big rivalry matchups coming in,” he said.
More Teams, More Matches
The fact the World Cup has been expanded this year, with more teams and more games, presents more opportunity for engagement, Mathew added.
“There’s going to be a few challenges along with that as well, where there’s going to be some pretty big mismatches at some parts of group play, so we’re going to think about how are you going to keep your customers engaged?” he said.
All the operators on the panel were saying the same thing – lots of localization around Canada and the U.S., but a bettor might support Argentina because of Messi, or another might have grandparents that grew up in Germany. There needs to be experiences for them all. It’s about melding in top-rated product with customer experience, creating an organic journey for the user, added Whitehead.
Lean Into Localization
The takeaway from big acquisition events like the World Cup is that it’s about precision over scale, he said. Use the time you have initially with the casual player and introduce them to the other sports betting opportunities on the platform, but also the platform’s other verticals.
“Certainly top of funnel you’re going to get a ton of new players coming through, but it’s going to be on us to find that balance between the right CPAs, acquiring players that are actually going to be valuable, and then delivering an experience where they’re going to want to stick around and stay on the platform.” said Whitehead.
“Find that balance, lean into the localization, remembering that Toronto is a very diverse population, and then the tactical plan will follow from there.”
No comments yet