World Cup betting trends: The raise of player markets and Bet Builders

The World Cup delivered five weeks of concentrated betting activity and gave operators a clear view of how sportsbook behaviour is evolving.

Speaking to Charlie Horner on the iGaming Daily podcast, Mark Wilson, Head of Trading, EveryMatrix Sports, highlighted the growth of player-focused betting, Bet Builders, automation and sportsbook uptime, while explaining how those trends can shape product strategy for the new domestic season.

Player markets are changing sportsbook behaviour

One of the clearest trends during the tournament was the growing importance of bets built around individual players.

Traditional markets such as match result, total goals and accumulators remain central to sportsbook activity, but customers are increasingly combining them with player-specific outcomes inside Bet Builders.

For bookmakers, that can create a different risk profile. A favourite may win, but if heavily backed player outcomes do not happen, the overall result can still be positive for the sportsbook.

“You can get the favourite winning, but if certain things don’t happen in the match, it could still be a very good result for the bookmaker, and we didn’t see that in the past.

“I think during the World Cup we saw a real snapshot of how important this is about key players, how they perform, and what that means for bookmakers.”

Star players are driving engagement

Matches involving football’s biggest names generated particularly strong interest.

According to Mark, player markets were becoming comparable in popularity to some traditional core markets.

“It was almost as popular as our sort of key markets. Every game that had these real superstars playing, such a high proportion of the bets involved them, and percentages of stakes that we personally had not seen before.

“We knew Bet Builders were taking off and becoming important, but we saw a real spike during this World Cup that we hadn’t seen before. That was a key learning for us.”

Mark expects the trend to continue as younger audiences build strong connections with the next generation of high-profile footballers.

Bet Builders continue to accelerate

EveryMatrix also recorded a strong increase in Bet Builder activity during the World Cup, alongside significant growth in pre-match player markets.

At the same time, the proportion of turnover coming from in-play betting dipped slightly. Scheduling may have played a role, but Mark also pointed to the growing strength of the pre-match product.

“We saw a really big increase in Bet Builders, and we saw a really big increase in all kinds of pre-match markets around players and what players will do during the match.

“The pre-match markets that we offer have become so much improved since the last World Cup, with all these new player markets, Bet Builders and featured Bet Builders. We saw a big increase in customers having their bet pre-match, sitting back and watching the game.”

Data and automation are shaping the product

EveryMatrix uses betting data to identify popular selections and incorporate them into featured Bet Builders.

Player form, current sporting narratives and wider fan trends can all influence which combinations are surfaced

“We look at the data, look at what’s popular, and then we try and build them in, basically in an automated way for our operators so they’re not spending too much time building them themselves.

“We take inspiration from things like Premier League fantasy competitions, we look at which players are doing particularly well, because customers want to bet on players and things that are newsworthy.”

Uptime remains critical during major events

Product innovation only works if the sportsbook remains available.

“In-play uptime is a key metric for us. We measure it, we look at it, and we need to make sure that we are higher than industry standards.

“During the World Cup it was about 98% uptime, so given all the goings-on and the stoppages, we think that’s very good. But it’s a metric we’re always trying to improve.”

That reliability becomes increasingly important as sportsbooks introduce more sophisticated markets that depend on real-time pricing and data.

Applying World Cup learnings to the new season

EveryMatrix is now using the tournament data to refine its sportsbook offering for the domestic season, with featured Bet Builders remaining a major area of focus.

“We’re working now taking those learnings from the World Cup, and the key one was around the Bet Builders and the featured Bet Builders, looking at quite how popular they were and saying: how can we enhance them?

“Can we add more context into them, so we give our users stats on, for instance, the last five games? We know what’s popular and we’ll make sure that’s at the forefront of our offering.”

The broader direction is clear: football betting is becoming increasingly player-led, contextual and product-driven.

Traditional match markets will remain fundamental, but operators that can combine them with relevant player markets, automated Bet Builders, stronger merchandising and reliable platform performance will be better positioned to match how customers increasingly want to bet.