New York, May 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Optimove Insights today released its 2026 LATAM World Cup Betting Intentions Report, finding that 86% of Latin American bettors plan to wager on the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Optimove Insights is the analytical and research arm of Optimove, the creator of Positionless Marketing and the #1 Player Engagement Solution for iGaming and sports betting operators.
The report establishes the LATAM World Cup audience as deeply experienced, year-round engaged, and highly mobile-first. Seventy-five percent (75%) of those planning to bet have wagered on a previous World Cup, including 20% who bet on both 2018 and 2022. The remaining 25% will be betting on a World Cup for the first time. This is a meaningful first-timer segment driven by the rise of legal sports betting in the region.
The data has direct implications for sportsbook strategy. The combination of high intent, confidence, mobile-first behavior, multi-bet engagement, and resilient post-elimination loyalty creates a concentrated revenue moment of unusual depth. The audience is also fluent: ninety-four percent (94%) rate themselves as moderately or very confident in their betting knowledge, and they expect communications that respect that fluency.
The report is based on a survey of 882 bettors globally conducted in early 2026, including 264 LATAM World Cup bettors.
Other key findings:
- High confidence and year-round engagement. Sixty percent (60%) of LATAM bettors rate themselves as very confident in their betting knowledge, and another 34% as moderately confident, totaling 94% combined. Thirty-five percent (35%) bet on soccer several times per week, and another 26% bet weekly.
- Strong national team loyalty with resilient engagement. Ninety percent (90%) support a favorite national team during the World Cup. When their team plays, 50% say they will bet with 100% certainty, and another 37% are very likely to bet. After their team is eliminated, 78% will keep betting.
- Meaningful in-play and multi-bet behavior. Seventy-seven percent (77%) plan to engage with live or in-play betting during the tournament. Thirty-three percent (33%) say live betting is their preferred mode, while 44% will do both pre-match and live.
- Mobile push dominates communications. Thirty-eight percent (38%) prefer mobile app push notifications as their primary outreach channel, well ahead of email at 14%.
- The tournament as intensification. Ninety-one percent (91%) will continue betting on soccer after the World Cup ends. Seventy-two percent (72%) will move to Copa Libertadores, 62% to the UEFA Champions League, and 34% to the English Premier League.
- Two or more sportsbooks. Sixty-five percent (65%) plan to use two or more sportsbooks during the tournament, with ease of use (59%), promotions (52%), and a trusted, familiar platform (46%) as the leading site-selection drivers.
"This is one of the most committed audiences in global sports betting," said Pini Yakuel, Founder and CEO of Optimove. "Nearly nine out of ten LATAM bettors are coming to the World Cup, and they are arriving year-round engaged, mobile-first, and demanding precision rather than promotions. The operators who win this market will be the ones who match the intensity of the audience with equivalent precision in their communications. That is what Positionless Marketing makes possible."
The full report is available at https://www.optimove.com/resources/reports/world-cup-2026-latam-betting-intentions-report-1
About Optimove
Optimove is the creator of Positionless Marketing and the #1 Player Engagement Solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. Positionless Marketing frees marketing teams from the limitations of fixed roles, giving every marketer the power to execute any marketing task instantly and independently. Positionless Marketing has been proven to improve campaign efficiency by 88%, allowing marketing teams to create more personalized engagement with existing customers.
For two years running, Optimove has been positioned as a Visionary in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs, recognized for its AI-driven decisioning, prescriptive insights, and proven ability to orchestrate thousands of personalized campaigns in real time across channels. AI-led marketing is a hallmark of Optimove's visionary leadership.
By embedding AI directly into its platform as early as 2012, Optimove paved the way for today's Positionless Marketing standard. Its Positionless Marketing Platform includes Optimove Engage and Orchestrate for cross-channel campaign decisioning and orchestration; Optimove Personalize, a digital personalization engine; and Optimove Gamify, a loyalty and gamification platform.
Today, its comprehensive AI-powered suite is at the leading edge of empowering marketers to streamline workflows from Insight to Creation and through Optimization. Optimove provides industry-specific and use-case solutions for leading consumer brands globally.
About Optimove Insights
Optimove Insights is the analytical and research arm of Optimove, dedicated to providing valuable industry insights and data-driven research to empower B2C businesses.
Olivia Arruda Optimove 8585881053 olivia_a@optimove.com
