With so much focus on Gen Z right now, iNTERGAMINGi asks industry insiders from Betby and Abelson Sports about how operators can target a whole host of igaming audiences
WITH the rise of mobile in the past 15 years, so much of the focus in the igaming industry has been on how best to tap into younger players’ habits. Pair that with Gen Z, and targeting younger players becomes an even more important part of the industry. But what about other generations of players? We can’t forget that operators are looking to widen their audience scope as much as possible with a range of product offerings, so how is that being done? To find out a bit more, iNTERGAMINGi heard from industry insiders at Betby and Abelson Sports.
INTERGAMINGi: What are the key moving parts in ensuring betting and gaming solutions target multiple audiences?
Ondrej Silhavy, esports business development manager at Betby: I think the short answer is that everything comes down to the experience. Product flexibility, personalisation, content presentation, localisation and trust are all key moving parts, but they only really matter when they come together in a way that feels natural for the player.
Different generations bring different expectations into the sportsbook. Gen Z users are often more familiar with fast, visual and mobile-first journeys, while more traditional bettors may value depth, stability and a structure they already understand. But it is also important not to reduce everything to age. The product needs to adapt to both generational habits and individual behaviour. For instance, a casual user should not feel overwhelmed by too many markets, while an experienced bettor should not feel limited by a simplified journey. Personalisation is key here, but features such as Betting Tips are also a good example of this balance. They give younger players the context and statistics they would otherwise look for across different platforms, while for older or more traditional bettors they make the experience clearer and more guided.
Jeeve Jeyaratnam, chief betting officer at Abelson Sports: A flexible, personalised and differentiated proposition is key to attracting bettors from a wide-ranging audience. Contrary to many, certainly those younger than me, I prefer to use a desktop layout to navigate sites. My understanding is that this method of consumption is dying. “Mobile-first” has been a mantra for years, but it doesn’t suit all users. While I appreciate I may be in the minority, it would be alienating for myself and others of my generation to not offer a strong and considered UX via desktop.
Other, product-oriented factors include the availability of micro-markets versus a strong antepost offer. While it is generally accepted that antepost betting is slowing, the advent of sportsbook gamification features such as micro-markets, roulette-style virtuals – designed to sit on the sportsbook front-end – and subtle social betting features such as highlighting how popular certain pre-canned bet builders are, are all sportsbook functions that are intended to appeal to different demographics. Other strategies, like frictionless payments, accepting crypto payments and Apple/Google Pay are all leaning into satisfying changing social behaviours, but it is also important that standard payment methods, like bank card or bank transfer, are also offered.
Focusing on Gen Z, what are the betting and gaming industry’s key strategies for tapping into their habits and behaviours?
OS: With Gen Z, I think the industry has to be very honest about one thing: the competitive landscape has changed. For a long time, sportsbooks were mostly competing against each other for market share, but today they are competing in a much broader environment shaped by player behaviour, engagement and attention. Younger users are used to constant stimulation, instant gratification and digital products that understand very quickly what keeps them engaged. Netflix, for example, is built around continuous content consumption, while social media platforms have evolved through algorithmic feeds and short-form video formats that make users keep scrolling.
So, sportsbooks are not only competing for the player anymore; they are competing for attention. That is why the product experience needs to become faster, more visual, more personalised and easier to engage with. Betby’s Stories, for example, was created with that in mind. The format is already familiar from Instagram and other entertainment apps, so users understand it immediately. In a sportsbook, it can highlight a boosted market, a free bet, a key fixture, a tournament campaign or a special offer without forcing the user to search for it. The result? Conversion can be increased by 70 per cent.
JJ: Gen Z’s gambling behaviour is shaped by fun-first motivations, mobile-first habits, social influence, fast UX expectations and FTP games. The industry’s most effective strategies revolve around gamification, social layers, creator-driven discovery, mobile first design, crash/instant games and rapid payments. Offshore crypto books seem to have realised and initiated these “interactive entertainment” strategies faster than books working under highly regulated frameworks. It’s no surprise that sportsbooks operating outside of legal jurisdictions can adapt faster to Gen Z trends, but it’s also a symptom of regulation that legal sportsbooks feel it is hard to catch up. Some of the biggest crypto/offshore books have really tapped into the idea of creator-driven discovery, even building their own platforms for streaming. While these operations have taken advantage of a lack of regulatory frameworks, and while this is in no way endorsed, it does highlight what catches Gen Z’s attention.
What about strategies for targeting players of other generations – and how have these changed?
OS: I would not look at this as a simple generational question. Age matters, of course, but understanding behaviour is much more important. There are younger users who want a very simple experience, and there are older users who are very advanced bettors. At the same time, many traditional players have become much more comfortable with mobile apps, digital payments, in-play betting, live streaming and personalised offers.
So, the strategy has changed. It is no longer enough to assume that older generations only want a traditional sportsbook, or that younger generations only want something fast and visual. The product has to adapt to intent. If a user comes in with a clear betting habit, technology should make that journey faster and more convenient. If another user needs more guidance, the product should provide context and support without making the experience feel heavy. If someone is interested in broader entertainment content, the sportsbook should be able to surface that too. That is the balance operators need to find. Innovation should make the experience easier and more relevant for every type of player, not only for one generation.
JJ: Yes, without doubt strategies have changed. As Millennials, Gen X and Boomers have become more digitally fluent, operators have shifted from traditional, channel-driven acquisition to personalisation, hybrid UX and value-based engagement. Interestingly, many of the most established tier-one sportsbooks are operating on platforms that have origins in a time period way before the largest cohorts they are trying to engage and attract. This gives new entrants with new tech a chance of competing on an unequal playing field. Platforms, like the one that powers Stakemate, have a modern audience in mind and while they may not cater to all generations, this is a play on the future.
While a multi-generational approach is important for certain historic brands, for newer players it has less appeal. Adaptation is key, and today’s user, whether Gen Z or Gen X, is more than accustomed to mobile-only apps, shortening attention spans and instant gratification games.
What kind of role does omnichannel betting and gaming play in targeting players of different generations?
OS: Omnichannel plays a very important role because, in reality, players do not think in separate channels anymore. A user may discover a promotion on mobile, use it later on desktop, receive a personalised offer by email or push notification, follow the match live and then return later for another event. From the operator’s side, these may be different touchpoints, but from the player’s side, it is one experience.
And I think this is important: that consistency is no longer relevant only to one generation. It has become a basic expectation for all players, regardless of age or profile. The experience needs to feel familiar and reliable, whether someone is using mobile or desktop. So, for operators, the practical challenge is making sure the journey does not feel disconnected. If someone regularly bets on tennis or esports, the offers, highlighted content and recommendations should reflect that behaviour across all channels, even land-based. In the end, that coherence is what creates trust.
JJ: Omnichannel delivery plays an important role for operators looking to target different generations. Gen Z expect fluid, seamless digital experiences – retail is hardly a focus here. Gen X are likely to have had initial betting experiences in retail outlets – I certainly did – and so ensuring the same experiences, prices and service are available across all channels is key to satisfying the differing demands of the player base.
What about localisation’s role in this context?
OS: Yes, absolutely. Localisation means understanding what people in each market actually care about, which includes sports preferences, payment habits, cultural moments, popular teams and even the type of entertainment that attracts attention. To get it right, you need to look beneath the surface. Brazil is a good example. Everyone knows football dominates across all generations, but if you want to build a truly local platform, you also need to understand regional interests. In the northeast, for instance, vaquejada is a very popular rodeo-style sport. Betby responded to that by creating an industry-first esports-style vaquejada title that no one else in the market was offering. The same thinking was applied to footvolley, another increasingly popular sport in Brazil that is often overlooked by foreign platforms.
This creates different engagement opportunities. More traditional bettors can connect with sports they already recognise, while younger users who expect faster experiences can engage with short-format esports-style versions of those sports. Another good example is Betby Predictions, which gives operators the ability to create prediction markets around virtually anything. For younger users in Brazil, Big Brother Brazil markets can be attractive. For another audience, markets around local business, technology or cultural trends may be more relevant. The important thing is that both approaches speak directly to the Brazilian user, and that is the real goal of localisation.
JJ: Localisation matters, regardless of which cohort you are appealing to. It’s vitally important to cater to cultural norms, preferred payment routes (see Brazil and Pix), UI expectations, marketing and influencer tones and personalities and channel preferences, as well as a clear understanding of different regulatory frameworks. Specifically examining different generations, Gen Z’s gambling behaviour is shaped by identity expression, social influence and mobile-first habits. Gen Z expect gambling experiences to feel like the rest of their entertainment feed, which is highly localised.
Millennials and Gen X value nostalgic culture references, loyalty, cross-device continuity as well as trust, privacy, control and predictability. In a word, they are less flexible but likely to be more “sticky” to operators. Understanding the nuances of each cohort within each territory is vitally important to establishing a solid client base.
What kind of role will AI continue to play in changing strategies for different generations?
OS: AI is, without a doubt, one of the main tools for making the sportsbook more relevant. For a long time, personalisation in the industry was quite broad. Operators would look mostly at demographic factors such as age, location or basic preferences, and build segments around that. The problem is that two players from the same generation and the same country can behave completely differently. This is why behavioural personalisation is so important. Through AI Labs, Betby focuses on analysing how users actually interact with the sportsbook. After the first few interactions, the platform can begin to understand what kind of content, markets, events and promotions are more relevant to each player.
In practice, that can influence the top section of the sportsbook, personalised banners, promoted events, combo bets, offers and other parts of the journey. But not just that; it can also play an important role in churn prevention. If a player’s activity starts to drop, the platform can direct them towards content that is more relevant to their geographical profile, sport preferences and previous behaviour. At the same time, this is also crucial for operators because AI reduces manual work and makes campaigns more precise. For players, it means less generic communication and a smoother experience. That is where I think the industry is heading: more relevance rather than complexity.
JJ: AI has, in the last two years, transformed most industries, and the betting space is no exception. For years we’ve been hearing that hyper-personalised UX experiences are the next big thing for the industry; AI could make this a reality. Gen Z expect instant relevance, personalised feeds and dynamic experiences; using AI to curate trending props, micro-bets and instant games based on social signals, creator influence and user behaviour. Polymarket Sports’ Instagram account is an example of how one company is attempting to make its messaging culturally and socially relevant. The content itself can be rather questionable, but the posts are frequent and touch on the latest moving news stories in sports.
To stereotype: Gen X tend to favour trust, stability and control. Millennials prefer bet prompts, value optimisation and content depth. Gen Z, on the other hand, don’t really want a sportsbook, they want a feed – constantly changing, always relevant with adaptive UX and shareable, social-ready games and content. AI can make all of this possible, provided the legacy platform back-ends can cope!
