The 2026 FIFA World Cup is already reshaping how operators think about tournament betting, not because of hype, but because of practical realities. That was the throughline of Mark Langdon’s session at ICE, where the Spotlight Sports Group veteran laid out what changes when the biggest sporting event on the calendar meets unfamiliar teams, fractured viewing habits, and a surge of first-time bettors.
Langdon framed the challenge simply. Operators are walking into a tournament with 48 teams, 104 matches, and audiences spread across time zones that don’t naturally align with traditional viewing or betting behavior. The opportunity is obvious. So are the frictions.
Spotlight Sports Group surveyed bettors across the UK, Latin America, and the U.S. late last year to understand how audiences plan to engage with the World Cup. The headline was enthusiasm. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they were extremely excited about the tournament, with excitement strongest in Latin America and more muted in the U.S. Still, 86 percent said they expect to stay engaged throughout the competition.
Where things get more complicated is how and when people plan to bet. Forty-four percent said unusual kickoff times would push them toward pre-match betting rather than in-play wagering. That matters in a market where live betting has driven growth for more than a decade. When matches kick off overnight or during work hours, the familiar triggers for in-play engagement change.
Player-led interest is another shift operators will need to account for. Younger bettors in particular are less focused on team outcomes and more drawn to individual players and moments. For household names, that behavior is predictable. For first-time qualifiers and lesser-known squads, it creates a storytelling gap that content teams will have to fill quickly once the tournament starts.
That gap becomes more important given who’s expected to bet. According to Spotlight’s data, 66 percent of respondents said this would be their first time betting on a World Cup. Nineteen percent identified as first-time football bettors altogether. In the U.S., operators are already anticipating confusion around core football mechanics, including how markets settle when matches go to extra time or penalties.
Langdon noted that confidence, not intent, is the biggest barrier. People want to bet, but unfamiliar teams, players, and rules make hesitation more likely. Seventy-three percent of respondents said expert analysis improves their confidence, reinforcing the role of trusted explanatory content alongside odds.
Social media plays a role, but not always in the way operators expect. Half of respondents said they discover bets on social platforms more than any other channel. But when asked where they validate those bets, social media ranked last. Betting platforms themselves were cited as the most trusted source by 91 percent of respondents. The implication is clear. Social drives discovery. Validation still happens closer to the product.
AI tools also tested well, with 86 percent saying they trust AI prediction tools. Langdon was careful not to oversell that number. The World Cup presents modeling challenges that don’t exist in domestic leagues, from uneven qualification paths to limited cross-regional data. Spotlight plans to lean more heavily on human-led previews and live blogs during the tournament, prioritizing context and responsiveness over scale.
Bet builders remain a central opportunity, especially in knockout rounds where standalone matches dominate attention. Langdon pointed to previous finals, including Euro 2024 and the Champions League final, as evidence that single-match bet builders drive meaningful turnover when focus converges. The challenge is extending that familiarity to teams and players bettors may be seeing for the first time.
Spotlight’s approach includes pre-packaged bet builders with short-form insight, lineup-driven visual cues, and deeper scouting reports for bettors who want more detail. The goal is not to overwhelm, but to give bettors a clear place to start.
Langdon closed with a caution on market design. New markets should be tested well before kickoff. Settlement disputes, particularly around subjective stats, can escalate quickly during a tournament of this scale and spill into brand perception just as fast.
The World Cup will bring moments no model or preview can predict. New stars will emerge. Unexpected teams will advance. Operators who are prepared to explain, contextualize, and react in real time will be the ones best positioned to turn attention into sustained engagement.
