104 games and millions of new customers: How bookmakers are capitalizing on the 2026 World Cup

The first round of the World Cup has come to an end. Fans are actively discussing the match results, and bookmakers have already begun analyzing the initial outcomes.

The World Cup has become a major event for the industry. It has tested the resilience of the infrastructure and the effectiveness of marketing strategies amid high demand. Preparations for the 2026 tournament differed significantly from the approach taken for the World Cup in Qatar four years ago.

A tournament is not a short-term source of traffic

One of this year's major trends is the move from acquiring users to retaining them.

According to Codere Online representatives, operators aim to attract an audience during the tournament and turn the World Cup into a long-term source of growth. The company emphasizes that brands that use the tournament as an opportunity to capitalize on sports interest and as a tool for further customer engagement will be successful.

Global betting turnover for the tournament is projected to range from $50–60+ billion, making it not just a major event, but a powerful driver of long-term growth.

This phenomenon reflects a general market trend. User acquisition costs remain high, and competition for audience attention continues to intensify. Therefore, operators are focusing more on the quality and long-term value of the audience they attract than on the number of registrations during the tournament.

Major international tournaments can increase sportsbook activity by 30–70% compared to regular periods, while customer acquisition costs often rise by 20–50% due to intensified competition among operators.

Localization as a competitive advantage

One of the most interesting aspects of the 2026 World Cup is its geography. The tournament will be held in three countries—the United States, Canada, and Mexico—each of which has different cultures, regulations, consumer behaviors, and levels of betting market maturity.

For international operators, the World Cup cannot be viewed as a single marketing event.

The U.S. remains the fastest-growing regulated betting market. Analysts predict that legal betting revenue for the 2026 World Cup in the U.S. will range from $2.8 billion to $4.3 billion (according to estimates by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming)—that’s 7 to 9 times more than the approximately $400 million generated in Qatar in 2022.

Total annual revenue from legal sports betting in the U.S. could exceed $15 billion by the end of the decade, making the tournament a key opportunity to attract new players. It is estimated that the three host countries will account for approximately $5.7 billion of the total betting turnover.

Codere Online announced that, for the first time, it has covered all five key markets within a single tournament (Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Panama, and Spain). However, the value of this achievement extends far beyond the size of the audience. The World Cup provides an opportunity to simultaneously test different player engagement models across various jurisdictions.

Globally, analysts (Macquarie, H2 Gambling Capital, and others) expect $50–60+ billion in total wagers for the tournament—a record compared to more than $35 billion in 2022.

Products are beginning to compete with bonuses

According to various reports, 29–60% of respondents plan to bet on the 2026 World Cup, and up to 29% of those respondents are first-time bettors.

In some markets, about 19–20% of users may try betting for the first time during a major tournament.

Player-specific props and Bet Builder are the main drivers of growth among younger audiences because they allow for more granular and engaging bets than simple outcomes.

Any major bookmaker can increase betting volume during major events. A more important question, however, is how effectively the company capitalizes on this interest.

Major international tournaments attract many new users who are not usually interested in betting. The World Cup is one of the few events that allows bookmakers to reach a new audience rather than just working with existing customers. A surge in customer acquisition is expected, particularly in North America and Latin America.

This creates a new challenge: how to retain these "tournament" users after the championship ends and convert them into long-term customers by offering a high-quality product rather than just bonuses.

As a result, the championship becomes a challenge for many companies: how successfully can they turn the increased interest into sustainable value for their business?

The World Cup continues to generate enormous interest and active betting participation. However, most operators today have access to the same marketing tools, promotional mechanisms, and products. Because of this, it is becoming more difficult to gain a sustainable competitive advantage through marketing expenditures alone.

Instead, the tournament increasingly highlights the quality of a company’s core business model.

Will an operator be able to adapt to different regulatory conditions? Can it offer a tailored experience across multiple markets simultaneously?

With more than 104 matches played over 39 days and potentially millions of first-time betting customers entering the market, the 2026 World Cup may become one of the most important customer acquisition and retention opportunities in the history of the online betting industry.