Inside FanDuel's World Cup generosity strategy
FanDuel is investing strategically in customer generosity during the 2026 World Cup, its biggest-ever campaign and one shaped by months of preparation and years of innovation across Flutter.
As the U.S. men's national team prepares to face Australia at Lumen Field in Seattle, Flutter's leading U.S. brand is expecting this World Cup to be the biggest betting event in its history.
"Around $400m was wagered with FanDuel during the Super Bowl. We're targeting a lot more than that across the World Cup – and a big step up from what we saw in Qatar in 2022," says Aman Gupta, Senior Vice President of Growth at FanDuel. "It will be 40 days of true excitement." The expanded 48-team tournament represents FanDuel's greatest opportunity yet to showcase its leading brand to a broader audience. In preparation, the company has launched its largest-ever generosity program to attract new customers and keep existing ones engaged throughout the competition.
The strategy behind generosity
For Gupta, the logic is simple. "Generosity is one of the most important ways we can engage with customers and drive differentiation between us and our competitors."
That philosophy can be seen across Flutter's global business. Speaking at Flutter's last Investor Day, Barni Evans, CEO of Flutter APAC, explained the approach that has worked so well in Australia with Sportsbet. "When we deliver better customer experiences, we're repaid with bigger handle volumes, higher structural hold, and ultimately sustainable revenue growth.” The strategy, Evans explained, comes down to three things: being customer-led, continually innovating and deploying generosity efficiently. "When we do those things in concert, customers tell us that their engagement in sport gets even more exciting. The generosity they receive is intuitive and easy to use. It feels personalized to them as individuals, and ultimately, they feel like they're getting a fair deal."
FanDuel's World Cup proposition is designed to apply many of those same principles. It is, says Gupta, "really leaning into the patriotism of America, the U.S. men's national team, and the fact that the U.S. is hosting the World Cup for the first time in more than 30 years." That got underway on opening night, when FanDuel rewarded customers who backed the U.S. to register just one shot on goal against Paraguay — a bet that easily paid off as the U.S. ran out comfortable 4-1 winners, providing an early opportunity to demonstrate FanDuel’s generosity proposition to excited American customers.
Other offers have rewarded customers throughout the tournament, including bonus bets linked to goals scored. Active customers are expected to spike on days when the U.S. plays, making today's clash with Australia – which also won its opening game against Türkiye – one of the tournament's biggest moments for FanDuel so far.
The generosity program is supported by a new loyalty platform designed to help FanDuel personalize rewards more effectively. It is also complemented by new products, including 120-minute markets, where bets remain live through extra time, and Super Sub, which transfers a bet to a substitute player if the original selection leaves the field. Super Sub was pioneered by Sisal before being adapted for U.S. customers.
United by the Game
In preparation for what Gupta describes as a "galvanizing moment", FanDuel spent seven months focused on its World Cup proposition. Today, a dedicated soccer category team owns the end-to-end customer experience.
"Consumer goods companies shifted from a functional structure to a category structure," Gupta explains. "In our case, the categories are the different sports, so a soccer category team is now in charge of the through-line across all elements of the proposition at FanDuel."
The same collaborative approach extends across Flutter. FanDuel's product and commercial teams built the tournament proposition alongside colleagues across the Group, while soccer pricing is powered by Flutter's global trading operation.
"The Flutter Edge has given us the opportunity to put our best foot forward for the World Cup this year," says Gupta. "Both through things like Super Sub and the 120-minute markets, and general know-how and experience with soccer bettors."
While the World Cup is expected to accelerate soccer's growth in the United States, FanDuel's generosity strategy is designed to extend well beyond the tournament. It forms part of a broader effort to improve the sportsbook experience through better personalization, stronger loyalty rewards, innovative products and smarter deployment of customer incentives.
The World Cup has provided an ideal stage to bring those elements together. The result is a proposition shaped by years of experience, months of preparation and ideas drawn from across Flutter's global portfolio. For FanDuel, it is not just a World Cup strategy. It is another step in its broader plan to build a better sportsbook.
This blog contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual outcomes or results may differ materially from those indicated in these statements. Words such as “believe(s)”,”expect(s)”, “potential”, “continue(s)”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would”, “seek(s)”, “plan(s)”, “estimate(s)”, “anticipates”, “projection”, “aspire” and comparable words are intended to identify “forward-looking statements”. Factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Flutter’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website.
