Kambi surpasses 100 million World Cup bets
Kambi and its global network of turnkey sports betting partners surpassed 100 million bets placed during the FIFA World Cup, with data showing the evolution of player preferences towards higher-margin products. This milestone refers only to the company's Turnkey Sportsbook platform and does not include bets generated by its Odds Feed+ product.
With 102 of the 104 matches already played, data from the partner network shows the growth of player prop bets and Bet Builder, reducing reliance on traditional markets to drive engagement and margin performance. The semi-finals illustrate this, with over 700,000 unique combinations placed in each match. The expanded tournament met anticipated volume potential, but the company also exceeded the average betting volume per match and recorded an increase in the average bet compared to 2022, with the last two matches remaining, with a geographically diversified network driving volume across a wider range of markets and time zones while diversifying risk among its partners.
Among the main trends of the 2026 World Cup compared to 2022, pre-match Bet Builder increased 3.6 times and the average number of selections went from 2.9 to 3.5. Player shots are the most profitable option in this modality, generating twice the volume of the match-winner market. The percentage of pre-match volume coming from non-winner bets rose from 57 to 63 percent, live betting volume in Bet Builder multiplied tenfold, and player shots are also the most popular live bet, accounting for 15 percent of the total live volume.
Together, these trends demonstrate the transition to more complex, higher-margin recreational gaming, which helped Kambi maintain a solid margin despite a competition where the top four seeds reached the semi-finals and prominent strikers scored frequently. This shift was made possible by the company's AI-powered trading system, which made the tournament the first World Cup where betting offers, both pre-match and live, were entirely compiled and managed by its proprietary algorithmic capability, with greater efficiency and scalability and a wider offering. The combination of this technology with data from its global network allowed it to expand prop betting markets, increase combination capacity in Bet Builder, reduce suspension times and live latency, and improve availability.
Werner Becher, CEO of Kambi, stated that surpassing 100 million bets before the final demonstrates both the magnitude of their network and the progress in sports betting innovation. He noted that this is the first World Cup entirely managed by their AI-driven capabilities, and that they saw the impact in improved product performance, increased engagement in player bets and Bet Builder, and a combination of bets that continues to evolve beyond traditional markets. In a tournament where results were not always favorable for some sportsbooks, he added, these advancements allowed them to continue performing strongly. The company will publish its Q2 2026 report on July 22, where it will share more details on the performance of its products during the tournament.
Tags: Kambi, Werner Becher, Bet Builder, 2026 World Cup, AI-powered trading, Sports, Sportsbook