During the Spain Argentina final, Kambi's platform processed over one million unique bet combinations in a single match. No human trader set a line, adjusted a margin, or settled a market. The whole thing ran on algorithms, end to end, across all 104 games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Kambi confirmed on Wednesday that its automated system handled every function traditionally performed by sportsbook trading teams: compiling odds, adjusting prices in real time, managing risk exposure, controlling which markets were available, and settling bets once results came in. The company had telegraphed this direction back in April, when AI was already processing 60% of bets across its network. The World Cup was the full test.
Turnkey partners recorded more than $1.14 billion (roughly €1 billion) in tournament stakes and cleared over 100 million bets, with operators posting an 18% trading margin. Millions of additional bets moved through Kambi's Odds Feed+ product, though the company does not receive complete wager data from those operators. CEO Werner Becher said the volume of unique bet combinations during the final alone was "impossible to deliver through manual trading," and Kambi did not need to hire extra traders to handle the expanded 104-match format.
Live Bet Builder products accounted for 22% of in-play bets during the tournament, compared to just 3% at the 2022 World Cup. Bet Builders as a whole made up 35% of all pre-match and live bets. Average turnover per match climbed roughly 20% from four years ago, and Becher reported zero platform downtime across the entire competition.
Financials and Guidance Raised
Kambi reported Q2 revenue of $52.3 million (€45.9 million), up 13.5% year over year. Adjusted EBITA more than doubled to $8.7 million (€7.6 million). Following the tournament's conclusion, the company revised its full-year adjusted EBITA guidance upward, from a range of $22.8 million to $28.5 million (€20 million to €25 million) to a new range of $26.2 million to $30.8 million (€23 million to €27 million). The World Cup figures span June and July and are not confined to Q2 alone.
Prediction Markets: Interest, but Not Yet in the US
Kambi is now evaluating whether to enter the prediction market space, either through partnerships or an internally developed product. The timing is notable: prediction markets recorded nearly $2 billion in trading specifically around the World Cup final, a figure that runs parallel to Kambi's own sportsbook numbers and illustrates the scale of that adjacent market.
A US launch, however, is not imminent. Kambi holds more than 70 licenses across regulated markets, and the company says the legal complexity those licenses create prevents it from moving quickly into US prediction market territory without significant regulatory risk. No timeline was given for when that calculus might change.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
