Sports betting continues to shift towards more complex, data-led products. New figures from Kambi’s Sports Betting Trends Report 2025 show how player behaviour is evolving across major events and regions.  The sports betting trends outlined in the report are based on activity from more than 50 sportsbook partners worldwide.

• Bet builder continues to gain ground across flagship events, with almost 49% of all pre-match bets at Super Bowl LIX placed using the feature. Usage has increased steadily year-on-year, particularly in US-facing markets. Kambi also recorded similar growth across elite European soccer competitions.

• Champions League betting followed the same pattern, with bet builder accounting for 24% of all pre-match bets in 2025. The product has seen consistent growth since 2020, supported by wider market availability and improved combinability. This reflects broader sports betting trends linked to customisable wagers.

• Player props have become a core part of major event betting, with 88% of Super Bowl LIX bet builder bets including at least one player-based market. In the NFL, seven of the ten most popular markets now relate to individual player performance. This shift highlights increasing demand for stats-driven betting options.

• Data from the NBA season shows player prop bettors place 3.6 times more bets and generate over three times more gross gaming revenue than non-prop bettors. These users also bet across a wider range of games during the season. As a result, player props are increasingly seen as a key engagement driver.

• AI trading continues to expand its role in sportsbook operations, with 48% of all bets on the Kambi network traded using AI in 2025 (see exhibit below). This represents a sharp increase from previous years and supports faster pricing updates. AI has also enabled a broader range of markets without increasing operational workload.

• Soccer remains the most bet-on sport globally, with particularly strong dominance in Latin America, where soccer bets outnumber basketball bets by a factor of 18. Regional preferences remain clear across Kambi’s network. These differences underline the importance of localised sportsbook strategies.

• International tournaments drive sharp spikes in betting activity, especially during extra time and penalty shootouts. Despite accounting for only 32% of match time, these periods generated 36% of live bets during recent finals. According to Kambi, “extra time and penalties consistently deliver the highest levels of player reactivation.”

• Esoccer maintained steady growth in 2025, ranking fourth by number of bets on the network. While most esoccer bettors also wager on traditional soccer, the reverse is less common. This creates a potential cross-sell opportunity for operators during quieter sporting periods.

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