As an industry, sports betting is obsessed with player retention and increasing the lifetime value of recreational and VIP customers, albeit in a responsible manner. The logic passes the sense check; operators are spending huge sums on acquisition and the only justification for those astronomic CPAs is having a valuable customer at the end of it.
But in between the debates on extending player lifecycles, one critical reality is often overlooked: the sheer operational complexity of executing it.
Chris Nikolopoulos, Chief Commercial Officer at BETBY, told SBC News that operators cannot just see themselves as part of the sports betting or iGaming industries, but instead as part of the wider entertainment sector.
“We should start thinking that we are not competing only with other sportsbooks, but we are competing with any other type of social platform that gets the attention of the user,” Nikolopoulos said.
How can operators win users’ attention?
Nikolopoulos strikes on a pertinent argument. We are in an increasingly fragmented digital landscape and users have more options for their entertainment than at any other time in human history. Sportsbooks need to make sure they are attractive enough to be part of users’ entertainment cycle alongside TikTok, Instagram, Netflix, YouTube and all other tech giants.
According to Nanointeractive research, 61% of bettors are already heading to other platforms like YouTube and fan media sites to seek out tips and analysis for their bets.
Meanwhile, Sensor Towers’ State of Mobile 2025 report found that:
- The average user engages with 26 apps per month, and around seven per day
- There were 136 billion new app downloads in 2024, down 1% year-over-year
- AI chatbots, streaming apps and crypto trading platforms were among the fastest growing sectors for downloads, gambling does not feature in the top 20
Nikolopoulos explained that bettors have so much choice for their entertainment that the onus is on operators to keep up with the latest trends.
“If we don’t offer the user ways to stay active on the platform at any given moment, even when the final whistle blows, then the player is off,” he said. “While they are betting, they are also reacting on TikTok, they are commenting on X. Generally, you have to give them personalised content to surface the right bet at the right moment for the right user.”
What can operators do to keep bettors during the World Cup?
The upcoming World Cup, set to start this week, is an ideal event to apply the learnings of Nikolopoulos’s theory.
The World Cup is set to be an historic event for sportsbooks, with all-time high handle anticipated due to more teams, more games and more regulated markets than ever before.
But with that comes great competition. So do operators fight the acquisition battle with hefty CPAs, or play long-term and go down the retention route?
BETBY’s commercial lead said that they are both as important as each other.
“You cannot have retention if you don’t do acquisition, and it doesn’t make sense to do acquisition if you don’t plan to do retention. Acquisition costs are generally, across different markets, at all-time high levels so I think that it is really important before you even spend your first dollar in acquisition to have a proper plan on how to retain the traffic.”
Nikolopoulos added that the World Cup is a big part of this strategy, given that operators will be anticipating peak volumes of users this summer.
“You need to be in touch with your provider to make sure you have everything optimised: promotions, product and other strategies must be in place to start the retention immediately. If you try to start retaining a player 48 hours later, you’ve already lost your user.”
BETBY launches Stories ahead of World Cup
BETBY has practiced what it preaches and has leaned into social media to help its operators partners engage with their customers in a more digitally-native manner.
The sportsbook provider launched Stories last month, a new product feature designed to help operators promote key events, bonuses, boosted odds and campaigns in a manner that bettors are familiar with from Instagram, Snapchat and others.
Nikolopoulos noted that demographic trends were a key driver behind the launch of Stories.
“Everyone is targeting this demographic, 18 to 34 is like the most dynamic demographic that you can target. And all these people of that age have grown up with Instagram and Stories.”
He explained that consumers tend to favour familiarity and brand legacy, a driver he argues that is behind bet365’s global success. If a consumer is familiar with a product, feature or brand, they want to come back.
“With Stories, you can promote your brand, you can have different types of content . It can be links to other pages, it can be a link to a tournament, or it can be nice visuals to engage the player even further. It can be a free bet, a notification, a tournament, some betting tips.”
Trading with an edge
With regulated markets suffering from more regulation and higher tax rates, there is real pressure on the 2026 World Cup from a trading perspective. Margins are tighter than ever so operators need to have an adequate model to offset these headwinds.
Nikolopoulos outlined his assertion that BETBY is one of the go-to partners in terms of trading solutions. The dynamic range of its clients is a key driver of this.
“17 of the top 20 crypto casinos work with BETBY in terms of sports,” he said. “So we have huge insight and huge data around crypto. In crypto, we are dealing with the biggest betting syndicates in the world, so we have to be super advanced in our tools, experience, structure, and our operation when it comes to risk management.
“I think that we are miles ahead of the competition in that aspect.”
Not that the P&L line is the only factor that goes into BETBY’s commercial approach. A long-term and sustainable approach is the best for durable partnerships.
“I always look to establish a clear, honest, and mutually beneficial relationship with the operators. Many times we decided to take a hit commercially in order to help our operators stay afloat. And for sure we are not doing it just because we are good guys, we are doing it because we believe that this is the way to success and the way to grow even more.
And the winner is…
With BETBY’s trading model and Nikolopoulos’ expertise, SBC News couldn’t help but ask for his World Cup predictions and for a dark horse.
It was good news for England fans, as Nikolopoulos reckons “it’s coming home”!
Meanwhile, for a dark horse, he predicted: “If I have to choose not to win the World Cup, but who has a good chance to compete and I see some value in the odds, I would say Norway. I think they have a good team, good players, ambitious players, young players and are very well trained.”