The 2026 FIFA World Cup is not just bigger in sporting terms. With 48 teams, 104 matches and 39 days of competition, it gives betting operators more chances to win customers – and more chances to lose them at the payment stage.
Fintechly spoke to Thomas Gillan, CEO of BR-DGE, about why he believes the tournament will test payment infrastructure before, during and after fixtures, and why operators need to think beyond peak volume. Founded in Edinburgh in 2018, BR-DGE is a global payment orchestration platform serving iGaming and gambling operators across multiple markets.
Why is the 2026 World Cup different from other major betting events?
The difference is that this tournament keeps giving customers a reason to come back. It is 104 matches across 39 days, not one race or a single domestic event. People may bet because of a national team, a Golden Boot market, a knockout draw, team news or a result that changes the whole shape of the tournament.
You also have group-stage permutations, penalties, extra time and teams progressing through the competition. Each of those moments can create a fresh reason for a customer to deposit, place a bet, withdraw or return for another fixture.
For operators, that means the payment setup has to work consistently across the whole tournament, not only during the biggest match windows.
Do new customers tend to arrive right before the event, or earlier?
One thing the data shows very clearly is that customers do not all arrive at the last minute.
At the Melbourne Cup and the Grand National, our data showed that new customers made up as much as 15% of transactions, which is far higher than we would normally expect. Cheltenham was lower, but still meaningful, with 7% of traffic coming from new customers.
New-customer activity also built during the seven to eight hours before the headline event. That tells us the commercial window opens earlier than the event itself. Customers may register, add a payment method or make a first deposit while they are still deciding how they want to bet.
The World Cup repeats that pattern across many fixtures, and in a hugely amplifying way, given the global nature and popularity of the tournament. It has a far greater propensity to attract first-time or long-dormant bettors. These customers may come in for one match, return for a national team, follow a player market or reappear for the knockout stages.
Where does the first deposit fit into that journey?
The first deposit is the point where interest becomes real. Marketing, offers and odds boosts can bring someone into an app, but the payment has to work before they become an active customer.
If a preferred method is missing, authentication is slow, a wallet fails or a card payment is declined without a clear recovery route, the operator can lose the customer before the relationship has started.
Most customers aren’t even aware of the chain of events involved behind the scenes. They only know whether the checkout felt like a trusted site, and whether the deposit worked quickly enough for them to place the bet. If it did not, there are plenty of other apps they can try.
Why does payment choice become more important during a tournament?
Different customers behave differently when intent is high. A regular bettor may use a stored card. A casual fan betting from a phone shortly before kick-off may prefer a wallet. In some markets, local payment methods or open banking-style payments may feel more natural than cards.
We saw this around the Grand National, where Apple Pay’s share of traffic rose from around 15% to 25% at peak. That points to the role of fast, familiar payment methods when customers are close to the betting moment.
The point is not just offering more methods. Those methods need to perform, route effectively and remain available when demand rises.
How do fraud controls and false declines fit into this?
Fraud controls remain essential in gaming and wagering, especially during high-volume events. But operators also need visibility into whether genuine customers are being blocked.
Major fixtures can bring first-time customers, dormant users returning, mobile deposits and unusual traffic patterns. That can affect issuer responses, PSP declines and fraud screening at the same time.
If a legitimate customer fails a payment minutes before kick-off, the recovery path needs to be available immediately. A false decline can lose a customer at the exact moment they are ready to spend.
What role does orchestration play?
At its simplest, orchestration gives operators more consistency and resilience around their payment infrastructures, to support greater success rates. But it also offers more options for merchants when a payment does not go the way it should.
If one route underperforms, orchestration can help direct the transaction through another path without forcing the customer to restart the journey. It can also give teams a clearer view of where deposits are failing, which methods are performing and where payout pressure is building after results land.
During a World Cup, demand does not arrive evenly. A quiet fixture may create steady deposits. A knockout match may create a sharper peak. A penalty shootout may be followed by withdrawal pressure. Operators need the ability to respond as those conditions change.
Why do payouts matter as much as deposits?
The customer does not judge the operator only when they deposit. They also judge it when they try to get their money out.
A customer may deposit, bet, win, withdraw and come back for another fixture within a short period. If the withdrawal is slow, unclear or inconsistent, the positive feeling of the win can turn into frustration very quickly.
Customers know checks are part of a regulated betting environment, but they are less forgiving when the process feels uncertain or overly delayed. That is why operators need to think about deposits and payouts as part of the same event journey. The first deposit may win the first bet. The withdrawal can help win the next one.
What should gaming and betting operators be looking at now?
Sports betting merchants should be checking payment method coverage, routing rules, failed-payment recovery, fraud visibility, stored credentials, tokenisation and payout flows before campaign traffic arrives.
I think the operators that prepare best will be the ones that treat payments as part of the event, not something sitting behind it. If deposits fail, wallets underperform, fraud rules catch genuine customers or payouts feel unclear after results land, operators risk losing customers they have already paid to acquire.
