The FIFA World Cup 2026 is poised to be the largest in history, featuring 104 matches over 39 days across the USA, Canada, and Mexico. This event offers sportsbooks a significant opportunity for customer acquisition, with anticipated global wagers expected to surpass $50 billion, a notable increase from over $35 billion during the 2022 World Cup.
While operators prioritize attracting new customers during key sporting events, the real challenge often begins after the tournament ends. Brands frequently witness a substantial decline in activity as event-driven bettors retreat and the momentum from recruitment diminishes.
Informed by Sportradar’s webinar titled 'Winning Marketing Strategies for the World Cup and Beyond' and previous guidance focused on World Cup acquisition strategies, the pressing question for operators becomes how to keep the players they have strived to acquire.
Dimi Katsavelis, senior client partner at Sportradar, argues that achieving success post-World Cup requires a fundamental change in both strategies and spending.
Many operators err by considering the spikes in activity around tournaments as indicators of sustainable growth. Throughout the World Cup, they attract casual fans and event-only bettors, only to continue targeting these groups in the same manner after the tournament concludes.
The most effective operators take a different path. Instead of cutting marketing investments post-World Cup, they strategically reallocate their resources. During the tournament, acquisition efforts can consume over half of the direct player marketing budget, with customer relationship management (CRM) taking a smaller share. After the tournament, this balance should shift significantly, reducing acquisition spending and increasing the focus on CRM, retention, and reactivation.
Katsavelis emphasizes, "The focus should move from 'How many players can we acquire?' to 'Which players are most likely to generate long-term value?'." This approach calls for investments in predictive churn prevention, early reactivation programs, personalized player journeys, and intelligent cross-selling strategies.
Post-major sporting events, one of the biggest mistakes operators make is gauging success against tournament-level metrics. Events like the World Cup and Super Bowl yield extraordinary engagement levels, but sites should not expect to sustain these highs indefinitely. Instead, the focus should be on converting event-driven customers into regular users who engage with the brand well beyond the event.
Katsavelis clarifies, "Good retention isn’t preserving tournament-level activity – it’s converting event-driven bettors into loyal customers."
To effectively assess retention, Sportradar suggests focusing on three crucial metrics. The first is the 90-day retention rate, which indicates whether customers acquired during the tournament remain active after the initial excitement subsides. The second is the value retention rate, measuring how much of the revenue generated during the World Cup translates into post-tournament earnings. This metric provides a clearer view of long-term success than simple active-user counts. Lastly, churn velocity helps operators understand how rapidly players disengage, enabling timely interventions before these customers become harder to reactivate.
Sportradar's case studies reveal that AI-driven retention programs can yield notable improvements. In comparing AI-driven CRM strategies to traditional methods, the retention rate reached 72% versus 61% after two months. By the six-month mark, retention stood at 39% compared to 34%, while after 12 months, the figures were 40% and 30% respectively. The consistent theme is not just about retaining more customers, but about decelerating the rate of inactivity.
Understanding retention metrics lays the groundwork, but influencing outcomes is the next challenge. This is where personalisation, CRM, and lifecycle marketing can provide significant competitive edges.
Many operators still adopt a narrow approach to personalisation, according to Katsavelis. Effective personalisation should not only focus on individual campaigns or messages but also on identifying where a customer is in their journey and their immediate needs.
The greatest benefit arises from reaching the right player at the right time with relevant objectives, making the actual message less vital. Katsavelis explains, "The question isn’t ‘What message should I send?’ but ‘What does this player need right now to continue their journey?’" By starting this personalisation effort before the World Cup ends, operators can pinpoint likely churn risks, evaluate future value, and identify which customers exhibit sustainable engagement patterns.
This strategy aims to facilitate a seamless transition from tournament engagement to long-term involvement. Effective techniques include helping players establish regular habits within the first four to six weeks after acquisition, designing behaviour-driven onboarding experiences, and distinguishing churn prevention initiatives from reactivation campaigns.
Dynamic triggers may also prove more effective than fixed campaign calendars, allowing customer behaviour to dictate future interactions rather than adhering to arbitrary timelines.
Katsavelis remarks, "The biggest gain comes from finding the right player, at the right moment, with the right objective – the message itself is often the least important part."
Personalisation is only as effective as the data underpinning it. According to Katsavelis, retention represents a data challenge disguised as a marketing issue. This is particularly evident following significant acquisition periods when operators struggle to maintain engagement without comprehensive insights into customer behaviours.
If sportsbook, CRM, analytics, and bonus systems remain unlinked, operators are likely to rely on broad campaigns based on past reports rather than informed predictions of future customer intent. The repercussions become especially evident during quieter stretches of the sports calendar. Katsavelis notes, "Operators who depend on broad promotional strategies often see engagement plummet as customer interest naturally declines." Conversely, those employing predictive intelligence can forecast which players may disengage and intervene with tailored experiences, content, contests, or offers that sustain interest until the next major event.
By consolidating customer data into a unified intelligence framework, operators can gain clearer insights into player behaviours and make more informed decisions about when and how to engage each customer.
Introducing sports-first customers to a wider array of products and experiences presents another vital retention opportunity, according to Sportradar. Often, prior cross-selling initiatives have faltered due to a focus on commercial goals instead of customer behaviours. Customers arriving via major events typically do not respond favorably to immediate, aggressive promotions for casinos. Hence, successful cross-selling strategies should align with moments when customer intent is likely to expand.
Katsavelis points out, "Users don’t perceive different verticals; they see a singular entertainment relationship with an operator," creating chances to introduce additional offerings during quieter times, between matches, or during low-activity periods.
Timing takes precedence over targeting. Katsavelis advises, "Never cross-sell when a user is emotionally invested in a match – do it when they’re between matches."
The fundamental principle is that operators aren’t acquiring World Cup users; they’re establishing future regular users who may temporarily express interest through a global event. Instead of pushing customers into another vertical immediately, operators can cultivate familiarity via contextual recommendations, easy initial experiences, and tailored follow-up journeys. Instant games, match companions, and hybrid experiences can also extend engagement without creating the sensation of a shift in product focus.
Success should be evaluated based on overall engagement metrics rather than solely on conversion rates, measuring repeat sessions, retention after crossover experiences, and impact on sportsbook activity. As Katsavelis summarizes, "The goal is portfolio engagement stability."
Fundamentally, effective post-World Cup retention strategies begin even before the tournament concludes. The operators that yield the best long-term outcomes craft acquisition strategies with retention objectives in mind, valuing every World Cup customer as a potential long-lasting relationship rather than a fleeting surge in activity.
This entails creating clear pathways from World Cup betting to domestic leagues, exploring other sports, and providing complementary experiences. Operators need to replace promotion-heavy messaging with behaviour-driven dialogues while recognizing customer segments early enough to deliver pertinent experiences throughout their lifecycle.
Trust is another critical element. Consistent user experiences, transparent communications, stable value propositions, and responsible engagement all contribute to fostering long-term loyalty once the initial thrill of a marquee event subsides.
Katsavelis reiterates, "The core principle is that you’re not acquiring World Cup users; you’re acquiring future regular users who temporarily express interest through a global event." As betting operators strive for success akin to that of the World Cup, those who excel may not be the ones who gain the most customers during the competition, but rather those who devise the most effective strategies to keep customers engaged well beyond the final whistle.
