The 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico is set to be the largest expansion in history, spanning 39 days with 104 matches, providing unprecedented development opportunities for the global compliant gambling market. As a provider of sports betting solutions, Kambi leverages its technological accumulation, trading expertise, and global data network to help operators achieve sustainable growth during and after the event. Industry dynamics can be followed through the PASA official website.
Event Expansion Spurs New Betting Demands
The number of teams participating in the 2026 World Cup has increased from 32 to 48, with 40 more matches than the 2022 Qatar World Cup, leading to explosive growth in betting opportunities. From traditional football powerhouses to first-time qualifiers like Haiti and Cape Verde, the event's global interest has significantly broadened, opening up more compliant market entry points for betting operators. However, the disparity in team strengths during the group stages poses a challenge in maintaining user engagement in lower-quality matches.
AI Empowers Full-Scale Betting Upgrades
Kambi is fully committed to making the 2026 World Cup the first large-scale football event to be fully traded by AI, a move that has indeed impressed the industry. The AI-driven pricing system not only enhances efficiency and risk control but also creates markets and prices accurately, even for teams and players unfamiliar to the average bettor, offering a rich array of betting options. Its Bet Builder tool performed notably well, accounting for 57% of the pre-match betting volume during the 2024 Nations League finals and contributing 35% of the Bet Builder transaction volume during the 2024 European Championship, becoming key to increasing user participation.
Data-Driven Risk Management and Customer Insights
With a global network covering six continents and over 50 partners, processing $20 billion in liquidity annually, Kambi can accurately capture the betting behaviors of different markets and user groups. Over the past decade, its player prop bets have increased twelvefold, and event supply has increased by 227%, using data analysis to identify unusual bets and potential risks early on, driving transaction volume growth while effectively controlling liabilities. This data advantage also helps operators adapt locally, whether in the growing markets of North America or the football-loving regions of Latin America, providing customized products.
Comprehensive Preparation Ensures Long-Term Growth
Kambi's World Cup preparations began after the previous tournaments, with rigorous stress tests and model validations to ensure the system can handle peak demands during the event. Close collaboration with partners in market depth, promotional strategies, and front-end delivery allows products to adapt to different regulatory environments and user expectations. For Kambi, the World Cup is not only a short-term peak event but also an opportunity to attract new users. Its AI-driven model can continue to provide stable quality services to operators after the event, achieving long-term user retention.
