Interview with Iren Kuznietsova, Head of Business Operations at SOFTSWISS Sportsbook
Big tournaments create surges in attention, but brands that try to launch a sportsbook a week before a tournament usually end up troubleshooting live. The SOFTSWISS Sportsbook advocates a smarter approach: launch early, accumulate learnings, and convert that tournament spike into durable retention. Head of Business Operations at SOFTSWISS Sportsbook, Iren Kuznietsova, breaks down what “early” really means, how to operate in the first 180 days, and why hands-on retention beats flash promos.
For Casino-only Operators, How Does Adding the SOFTSWISS Sportsbook Ahead of the World Cup Change the Revenue Mix?
Sports is returning as a trend. After a period of relative stagnation, players are once again eager to bet. On average, a sportsbook can generate about twenty per cent of a casino’s GGR. That’s a significant addition, but it’s not just about numbers. Sportsbook is also a powerful retention and cross-sell tool.
Think of a player who just lost in the casino. Rather than losing them altogether, you can redirect them to sports, offering a new experience, a kind of “consolation prize.” We’ve also seen that features like our Network Jackpot increase engagement dramatically. On projects where it was enabled, the number of bets per player grew by 50%. So, that’s not just more volume; it’s about deepening engagement and extending player lifetime.
What’s the Best Time to Launch a Sportsbook Before a Global Tournament Like the World Cup? Are There Any Crucial Advantages Versus Launching During or After It?
When it comes to timing, the earlier you launch, the better. A sportsbook isn’t something you switch on the day a big tournament starts and expect players to adopt instantly. Building loyalty doesn’t happen overnight, especially when what you’re really selling is not just a feature but an experience.
During big events, people want to bet. If your sportsbook isn’t ready when that moment comes, players will look elsewhere, and once they find another platform with a great welcome offer, they might not come back. That’s why having a sportsbook live well before the tournament isn’t just an advantage – it’s a safeguard against losing your own casino audience.
Psychology is also important. Players need time to explore the sports betting flow – in practice, we see that it takes around 15 player touch-points with a sportsbook before it feels natural. The earlier you start, the more ‘native’ sports betting feels to your existing casino audience. If you launch only when the World Cup kicks off, you miss that entire learning curve.
If We Map the Journey From Decision to Go-live, What Does the Ideal Pre-World Cup Timeline Look Like, and Why Do These Checkpoints Matter?
There isn’t one universal timeline, because it depends both on the project itself and on the sporting calendar leading up to the World Cup. If you launch six months ahead, you have plenty of smaller tournaments to use as training grounds. Players get used to the product, and you can test retention tools. But if you launch only a month or two before, especially during a low sports season like July, you’ll struggle to give players reasons to place bets.
The approximate timing might look like this: be live around six months before kick-off. The first month is about technical setup and basic markets. Then, it is followed by a structured 40-day welcome program with automated bonuses and event calendars. By month three, you can add jackpots, VIP bet services, and even esports testing for younger audiences. From then until the tournament, the focus shifts to scaling and localisation – adapting offers to each market and validating cross-sell mechanics between sports and casino.
Of course, this is a generalised estimate, which may be subject to change depending on the project. For example, I would recommend launching our Network Jackpot campaign – it’s a perfect “we’re live” story which can even reactivate inactive players.
In a nutshell, going live at least half a year before the World Cup gives you enough time for setup, for operators to prepare their retention strategies, and for players to build crucial habits.
What Acquisition and Pre-event Activation Tactics Work Best in the Run-up to Major Tournaments?
The strongest results always come when a sportsbook has been live for a while before the event. That way, you already have data – what players bet on most, which teams or markets resonate, and what kind of promotions generate engagement. Then, as the World Cup approaches, you can scale campaigns with much more precision.
I’ve seen projects test free-to-play predictors, bet-builder tutorials, and even influencer-led challenges to create buzz. Social media campaigns tied to jackpots or special promotions work particularly well when they’re launched in advance. If you start early, you don’t need to burn through acquisition budgets once the tournament begins.
Creative campaigns also help. For example, around Easter, we ran an ‘Easter Egg’ promotion where players discovered daily challenges inside the sportsbook. It wasn’t just about deposits or bonuses – it was about teaching players to navigate the product in a fun, exploratory way. And once they’ve gone through that journey, it’s much easier to keep them engaged.
Could You Share Any Examples of Partners Who Launched Early and Saw Measurable Gains?
A standout example involves a partner who chose to strengthen their online casino offering by adding the SOFTSWISS Sportsbook roughly six months before EURO 2024. When the sports vertical launched, the project had only a modest sports audience: early turnover sat at around €100,000, the average bet size was around €40, and GGR dipped slightly below zero as the operator invested heavily in acquisition and bonuses.
Instead of waiting for the tournament to ‘magically’ improve the numbers, the team used this pre-event window as a training ground. Together, we built a structured activation plan: welcome offers and scheduled promos tied to local leagues, educational campaigns explaining bet types, and targeted jackpots to encourage repeat betting. Over time, this helped build a steady base of regular sports bettors rather than triggering a temporary spike.
By the time EURO 2024 kicked off, key performance indicators had changed dramatically. The number of active bettors had grown to almost 500, the average bet size increased to nearly €70, and monthly turnover exceeded €1 million in June. This translated directly into profitability, with GGR improving from slightly negative territory to about €70,000–€75,000 during the tournament.
This case demonstrates very clearly why we push for early launches. When you go live half a year before a major event, you’re not just ‘ready for the traffic’; you’ve already educated players, tested your promos, stabilised the tech stack, and built habits. Then, when the tournament surge arrives, you get more value from it because players are already active and the platform is already stable, instead of running into issues all at once.
World Cup is Over – What is Your Post-tournament Retention Playbook so Users Don’t Vanish?
The truth is, there’s no dead season if you plan correctly. You just need the right mix of bonuses, jackpots, loyalty programs, and personalised offers. That’s why we’ve built structured retention packages operators can plug into.
At the basic level, we provide welcome bonus setup, standard two-week calendars with the top sports events, and a recurring retention bonus. Operators also get monthly promo suggestions tied to major tournaments.
The expanded tier adds validation of promos, twice-monthly event bonuses, and up to 25 custom bonus requests a day. Operators also receive regular analytical reports and can plug in our bonus promo concepts for global tournaments.
Finally, the maximum tier is almost like a managed service. We localise calendars, refresh promos weekly, and even cover full VIP player support with risk controls and monthly bonus program reviews.
In other words, operators can keep engagement high after the World Cup by running their own in-house retention team, or they can lean on us to do the heavy lifting.
