In an odd numbered year like 2025, operators often see a dip in the amount of football content they can offer their customers when the European season comes to an end. This summer bucks that trend with the revamped FIFA Club World Cup kicking off in the US on Sunday 15 June, providing operators with a new, month-long football tournament to engage bettors and open additional revenue streams.
However, since its inception 25 years ago, I think it’s fair to say that the Club World Cup has struggled to get much attention from bettors who hold more interest in domestic cup competitions. This, then, raises a valid question; just how successful can the tournament be for operators this summer?
Popularity by place
Firstly, it’s important to consider the regional perspective. For operators in Europe, the Club World Cup comes at an opportune time. Traditionally, in an odd year without a major football tournament like the FIFA World Cup or European Championships, operators tend to see a significant drop in revenue during June and July.
The addition of 63 football matches to their schedules creates new revenue generating opportunities for operators during two of their weaker months
Conversely, it’s considered high season for football in the Americas. The CONCACAF Gold Cup rolls out in parallel to the Club World Cup, while Major League Soccer is at its halfway point. For operators in the US and Latin America, the Club World Cup complements their existing football offering. And the prominence of football in the sports calendar during the summer months in these regions will help operators to create interest in the tournament and drive engagement with fans and bettors.
New qualification criteria for this year’s Club World Cup has resulted in the strongest teams from the six football confederations taking part, which should make for a more competitive event. But what’s really going to strike a chord amongst fans and bettors is the fact that this year’s Club World Cup follows a group stage and knockout format, similar to the World Cup.
Engagement through knockout familiarity
For betting operators, the shift to the established knockout tournament format is a no-brainer. Bettors are familiar with tournament football – they understand that the top two teams in each group move on to the knockout stage. And everyone knows what happens from there. Operators will hope that this familiarity can drive further adoption and acceptance of the tournament amongst bettors.
Engagement during the previous tournament in late 2023 was sluggish, but we know that there’s significant appetite for football content amongst bettors. To give you an idea of the scale of football betting, last year Sportradar processed betting tickets with a turnover of approximately €13bn ($17.6bn) on behalf of clients through its Managed Trading Services (MTS).
That’s a huge sum that proves there is an audience for operators to find and engage with. Now, if previous tournaments have gone unnoticed by fans, then FIFA is leaving nothing to chance this time around. The coming together of the world’s biggest club teams is already garnering media headlines, putting the competition front of mind amongst fans and bettors in the build-up to kick-off.
Additionally, streaming service DAZN paid a reported $1bn for global broadcast rights to the competition, providing worldwide media exposure for the duration of the contest. Then, factor in FIFA’s multitude of partners and sponsors who will undoubtedly activate their rights over the course of the competition.
All of this drives awareness and stimulates top funnel marketing activity for operators
It’s this wall-to-wall media exposure that is going to drive acceptance and, ultimately, adoption of the Club World Cup amongst bettors which will benefit sportsbook operators this summer.
The whole hog: Full coverage
To make a success of the competition, operators will need to offer betting coverage that is comparable to all of the other high profile football events. From a Sportradar perspective, we recognise the revenue generating opportunity that Club World Cup presents for operators this summer, which is why we’re putting up our full betting coverage for each of the competition’s 63 matches. This includes up to 190 pre-match betting markets and up to 200 in-play betting markets.
What’s more, we know that football betting drives high levels of engagement amongst bettors, so we’re enhancing the experience with a selection of micro markets and dynamic, Live Match Trackers.
We’ll see over the next few weeks whether operators can make a success of the Club World Cup. Regionality plays a big factor in determining ‘success’ – I certainly think the competition serves European based operators the most in terms of giving them an uplift on expected business levels. If we look to Latin America and the US, I anticipate that the Club World Cup will deliver betting activity on a par with the top football competitions of the year.
The refreshed Club World Cup presents a significant opportunity for operators this summer and Sportradar is determined to help its clients make the most of it.
