AI and World Cup at the heart of Kambi’s 2026 growth strategy
- Kambi Group expects the 2026 FIFA World Cup to generate an additional €5m in revenue and plans to run the entire tournament on AI-powered trading for the first time.
- Full-year 2025 revenue fell 8.2% to €162m, with tax increases in Colombia and the Netherlands among the key headwinds.
- Adjusted EBITA declined to €17.6m from €25.4m, though operator trading margin improved to 10.8%.
Kambi Group is positioning the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the centerpiece of its recovery strategy after reporting an 8.2% decline in full-year revenue.
The sportsbook technology supplier could see adjusted earnings of between €20m and €25m in 2026 as it targets a meaningful profitability rebound.
2026 outlook
The company outlined its 2026 objectives in its’ Annual Report for the previous year. Kambi Group’s chief executive Werner Becher commented:
“2025 was a year of both challenge and meaningful progress for Kambi. We entered the year with a focus on expanding and diversifying our partner base, improving operational excellence and elevating our product capabilities to position the business for long-term, sustainable growth, and I am pleased with the progress made in this regard.”
The company expects the tournament to add €5m in incremental revenue and plans to deploy its AI trading systems across the entire World Cup operation for the first time.
The OLG sportsbook, which launched with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation on 27 January 2026, also provides a meaningful near-term revenue contribution absent from 2025 results.
“Looking ahead, 2026 is set to be an important year for the global sports betting industry, with the FIFA World Cup expected to generate unprecedented levels of global betting activity.”
Kambi takes pride in its advanced tech solutions, with Becher setting product at the core of its long-term growth strategy.
“Product leadership remains central to Kambi’s strategy, and 2025 represented a pivotal year in our technological evolution.”
Revenue and margins
Kambi generated revenue of €162.0m in 2025, down from €176.4m in 2024, representing an 8.2% year-on-year decline. Adjusted EBITA decreased to €17.6m from €25.4m, and cash flow fell to €21.2m from €25.9m.
Excluding the €12.5m in one-off transition fees recorded in 2024, the underlying annual revenue decline was just 1.2%, a substantially narrower gap than the headline figure suggests.
The reduction was attributed in part to the absence of those termination fees, alongside a quieter sporting calendar and increased gaming-related taxes in key markets including Colombia and the Netherlands.
Kambi estimated that additional gaming-related taxes in Colombia alone had a negative year-on-year impact of approximately €3.6m in 2025.
Despite the headline decline, operator trading margin improved to 10.8%, up from 10.0% in 2024, supported by product and pricing developments.
Geographic breakdown
The Americas remained Kambi’s largest revenue region, accounting for 58% of turnover, supported by growth in regulated markets including Brazil.
Europe contributed 38.6%, though performance in the region was impacted by regulatory changes and tax increases. The rest of the world represented 3.4% of turnover.
The company now operates in more than 60 regulated markets, with 98% of revenue derived from locally licensed jurisdictions.
AI and partner diversification
By the end of 2025, AI-powered trading accounted for nearly half of all bets processed across the Kambi network, contributing to improved pricing accuracy and enhanced operator margins.
Revenue contribution from the top three partners declined to 35% in 2025, compared to over 60% five years earlier. Kambi signed ten new Turnkey Sportsbook agreements during the year.
The company also advanced its platform strategy through the acquisition of player account management source code, aimed at unlocking new Turnkey Sportsbook opportunities in markets such as Nevada.
Latin America was identified as a key growth region, with Kambi launching on the first day of regulation in Brazil, though market performance there has been slower than initially expected.
With the OLG launch now live, ten new partner agreements signed, and the World Cup approaching, the commercial foundations for a stronger 2026 are in place.
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