We are into the knockout stages, given FIFA’s new format, there were few surprises in terms of who qualified (or did not) from the group stages. However, the World Cup has come alive in the Round of 32, with some huge penalty upsets. Over the course of six weeks millions of bettors have attached themselves to a player, or a team, or a market. These habits are critical intelligence. The operators who know what their customers are interested in hold the most valuable asset of the knockout rounds: a reason to engage with  every customer, to fuel a future intent, regarding a topic the operators know they already care about.

What personalisation isn’t

Last week we wrote that automated content too often means “templated output with a generative veneer: the same preview, slightly reworded, pushed across every fixture.” The same trap exists when considering personalisation. For some operators, “personalised” means a similar Argentina vs Cape Verde preview, but with the tone dialled up for a younger segment and down for an older one. Same stats, same angle, same market, no “rizz”. 

That isn’t personalisation. It’s the same content in a different coat, and a customer can tell the difference between content built for them and content reskinned at them. The second kind earns nothing: no extra click, no extra bet, no reason to return. Real personalisation changes what you say, not just how you say it. The angle, the market, the depth, even which fixture you lead with all change, because the person on the other end is unique.

Every stage, not just the 90 minutes

Getting the story right for one customer, once, is only the start. The bigger prize is repeatedly providing interesting content for all customers across the time horizons associated with a fixture.

Before kick-off, give them a reason to care, giving context that lets them take a position: who’s in form, key player match ups, and in the knockouts who the winner will play. The interests across the sporting product and the markets are not the same for everyone. The customer who’s followed Cape Verde all tournament wants to know if the fairytale survives Messi; the one backing Argentina to go all the way wants to know if this is the gentle landing before the hard games begin. Same fixture, two different reasons to bet.

In-play, react to the match as it happens. A red card, a tactical switch, a hat-trick – each creates betting intent, but only if the right context reaches the right customer before the moment passes. The window when an event is relevant  is measured in seconds, and a generic “GOAL!” blast to the whole book misses it. The customer watching their team go down to ten men needs the live price and the can-they-hold-on line now; the one tracking goals needs the new total the instant the next one hits the net.

Building one fixture into the next is key: customers who’ve ridden Cape Verde’s run all tournament should be informed of  Friday’s tie with Argentina as soon as it is known, framed around exactly what hooked them in the first place. 

Why it’s hard, and why it’s the differentiator

Map that journey across a whole customer book and a single fixture stops being one piece of content; it becomes a linked-up web – every stage, before, during and after, multiplied by the different things customers care about. This makes it a prioritisation problem as much as a content generation one. 

Doing it for a handful of accounts is manageable; doing it for the entire book is the hard part. It takes three things at once: enough genuinely distinct content to be relevant, a real understanding of each fan (not just which demographic box they tick), and the ability to test, learn and iterate at tournament pace. The engine we described last week supplies the volume; the persona and prioritisation layer makes it land one person at a time.

Moreover, we understand that solving these problems should be done in stages, leveraging existing customer segments in the first instance, before becoming ever more granular in terms of targeted content distribution through time. 

Everyone has the same odds and the same fixtures. What you know about your customer, and what you do with it, is the one thing the operator next door can’t copy. The key is finding out what is important to each individual customer rather than trying to find the average which is no one’s first choice.

Will Stephenson
Chief Betting Officer