Reports from Optimove, SOFTSWISS and Sportradar reveal the profile of a more sophisticated user, and seven industry executives explain what this means for operators, CRM teams and integrity monitors during the World Cup.
The 2026 Brazilian bettor has matured and is no longer the novice user that platforms spent the first years of regulation trying to educate. According to reports published by Optimove, SOFTSWISS and Sportradar during the 2026 World Cup, this user arrives with well-formed opinions and a clear idea of what a good platform experience looks like.
They bet live, bet from their phone, expect transactions at Pix speed, and, crucially, don’t disappear when Brazil is eliminated.
The question every operator and every supplier in the market now faces is no longer how to acquire this user. It’s whether they truly understand them.
A specific profile
Optimove’s research indicates that 38% of Latin American users prefer push notifications three times more than email. It also shows that 91% intend to keep betting after the World Cup ends, in tournaments such as the Libertadores and the Champions League.
In addition, 94% of new bettors consider themselves extremely confident in their sports knowledge.
For Felipe Nadalini, senior account manager at Optimove, these numbers show that the challenge for operators isn’t to increase the volume of communication, but to make it more relevant.
“On days with multiple matches, automation needs to take into account each user’s interests, betting habits and level of engagement, since events like goals, cards or comebacks aren’t always relevant to every profile.”
According to Nadalini, the same principle applies to the post-World Cup period. “Retention begins during the tournament itself, based on behavioral data collected throughout the user’s journey,” he comments.
“The goal is to connect the interests shown during the competition to other leagues and championships, avoiding generic communications and keeping the experience relevant over time.”
For the executive, the World Cup should be seen as the start of a relationship, not just an acquisition campaign.
Marketing that bets on identity, not bonuses
Two of Brazil’s biggest betting operators reached similar conclusions about what connects with this user, and neither starts with the welcome bonus.
Dimitri Araujo, head of marketing at Sportingbet, frames the competitive issue as one of cultural presence rather than promotional weight. According to him, what sets a brand apart during the World Cup isn’t the size of the bonus, but the quality of the connection established with the fan.
The company invests in personalities who have cultural impact and produce content capable of generating genuine identification with the Brazilian audience.
For Araujo, the emotional bond is the result of a consistent presence, built before and after the competition. “In a market that competes for attention through promotions, Sportingbet seeks to compete through user experience. The bettor who feels respected by the platform tends to stay without depending on constant incentives.”
Patricia Prates, marketing director at Superbet, presents a similar view. For her, brand building has become essential in a highly competitive, low-maturity market. According to the executive, creating genuine connections requires experiences that go beyond sport and integrate entertainment, culture and relationship.
At the start of 2026, the company launched the positioning “What you feel when you’re super,” expanding its focus toward building reputation and brand consideration. During the World Cup, Superbet is making the largest marketing investment of its operation in Brazil.
“The main highlight of the strategy is Passa Bola, a free group prediction game created specifically for the tournament. The product aims to attract new users through a collective experience, getting groups of friends to bet together and build memories associated with the brand,” she says.
According to Prates, investing in brand requires consistency and a long-term vision. “Companies that rely solely on acquisition survive only as long as acquisition costs allow it, while those that invest in reputation and relationship build more sustainable growth.”
Infrastructure for operators
For suppliers serving platforms, rather than end users, the World Cup presents a different set of challenges.
Alexander Kamenetsky, head of sportsbook at SOFTSWISS, analyzes the 2026 tournament from the perspective of the market’s structural growth. According to him, overall betting activity is expected to increase by more than 50% compared to the 2022 World Cup.
The previous edition generated approximately US$35 billion in global bets. In 2026, the tournament will feature 48 national teams and 104 matches, compared to 32 teams and 64 games in 2022.
For Kamenetsky, the increase in the number of matches creates new opportunities in pre-match markets, live betting, player performance, and special markets. “The growth of regulated markets, especially the Brazilian one, also contributes to this scenario.”
SOFTSWISS data shows that the final between Argentina and France was the highest-volume match in 2022, while the Brazilian national team’s games accounted for 9.34% of all bets placed during the tournament.
The executive says it’s important to differentiate the volume generated by Brazilian bettors from that directly related to the national team’s matches. Brazilian users follow the entire competition and tend to remain active regardless of the national team’s performance.
For him, from an operational standpoint, the new format creates multiple peaks of activity throughout the competition, requiring infrastructure capable of supporting simultaneous loads and maintaining stability throughout the entire tournament.
This need for robust infrastructure was confirmed in practice by data from Unico, an identity verification network, which during the group stage of the 2026 World Cup recorded 19 million transactions in the betting sector, facing impressive peaks of 40 thousand transactions per minute (such as during the break after a Brazilian goal), operating with 100% availability
The business model beyond acquisition
Fellipe Fraga, CBO of Stellar Gaming, states that the rising cost of customer acquisition has made retention an even more important variable for operators.
According to him, financial balance depends on intelligence in choosing media spaces and how these investments are made. The long-term customer value becomes the main business metric, and he also emphasizes the importance of communicating this to users.
Fraga points out that operators’ business plans cannot be limited to acquisition during the World Cup. Retention and relationship-building after the tournament become essential to justify the investments made during the event.
Rodrigo Cambiaghi, senior sales executive at Sportradar, notes that the roughly 19% of first-time bettors expected during the tournament represent a significant opportunity for operators. According to him, simple, personalized, and responsible experiences will be decisive in turning this initial interest into a lasting relationship.
“Local payment methods, products tailored to the user profile, and responsible gambling tools stand out as key factors for retention.”
He also highlights the role of technology and artificial intelligence, which make it possible to offer more personalized experiences and strengthen the integrity of operations through the analysis of billions of odds movements worldwide.
Integrity at the speed of ‘live’
The shift toward live betting represents not only a commercial opportunity but also an operational and integrity challenge.
Tiago Horta, integrity specialist at Genius Sports, explains that the growth of in-play betting requires monitoring systems that are far more sophisticated than those used in pre-match markets.
First-time bettors, according to him, often display impulsive behaviors, irrational choices, and frequent strategy changes, which can generate seemingly atypical signals.
However, isolated behaviors rarely represent threats to integrity. What really matters is the analysis of context, frequency, financial volume, and the repetition of patterns over time.
“The main warning signs arise when unusual behaviors appear in a coordinated manner, such as multiple accounts concentrating bets on low-liquidity markets, movements inconsistent with users’ history, or bets placed immediately before specific events in the match.”
With the expectation that 77% of Latin American bettors will place live bets during the World Cup, real-time monitoring becomes an operational requirement.
For the executives interviewed by staging-latam.next.io/, the Brazilian bettor has grown: more informed, more demanding, and more connected, arriving at the 2026 World Cup ready to stay in the market.