Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, SOFTSWISS and SBC have come together to host a webinar on how the tournament is set to transform performance of the Latin American sportsbook market. The session aims to explore two of the biggest pillars associated with operating in the region: compliance and stability. 

Sitting in on the webinar, World Cup 2026: The Impact of LATAM Hosting on Sportsbook Performance and Stability, experts from SOFTSWISS, Stellar Gaming and Gamewiz sought to answer just how the industry can prepare for one of the most demanding betting periods the region has seen, in recent years.

“Its basically every technical risk there is…” joked Bruno Palumbo, Country Manager Brazil at Gamewiz, “It’s not only the platform that needs to be stable, payment providers need to be prepared to deal with triple the normal volume. This also applies to sportsbooks, also. You need at least one or two backups”.

Preparation here is key. It isn’t a case of if things go wrong, but rather when, and having contingencies in place to avoid short disruptions to the user experience is vital, not just for driving revenue, but for protecting brand perception.

Carolina Diniz Flauzino, Business Development Manager at SOFTSWISS, elaborated on the idea of having scalable infrastructure to tackle a global event of this magnitude. 

“It’s very important,” she said. “In Latin America, operators often focus on price, rather than quality. But investing in high quality infrastructure that will remain stable during periods of heavy user volume, will pay off. A good partner can make or break your tournament.”

But with this increase in visibility comes more regulator scrutiny. Remaining compliant across LatAm involves remaining aware of changing jurisdictions and attitudes in these different markets. Brazil, for example, is in an election year, with gambling now elevated into a prominent political issue. 

For Fellipe Fraga, Chief Business Officer at Stellar Gaming, “If you have a compliance failure, it can ruin your operation. You have to ensure self-excluded players are not able to play on your platforms. They might try to. The World Cup is a big moment, and people want to be a part of it. But your compliance cannot allow it to happen.”

The panel continued, highlighting key compliance issues like keeping bonus abusers off platform and ensuring customer acquisition is done in a responsible way. Solutions for these risks involve setting up dedicated compliance departments and remaining aligned with acquisition goals that don’t undermine responsible gambling compliance and integrity laws.

When asked to pick one factor to focus on, technology, compliance or localisation, the panel were unanimous, “Undoubtedly technology” said Fraga, “All of us must be compliant everyday. This doesn’t change during the World Cup. Localisation is the same, you have to be prepared for your market before and after the World Cup. But technology can change everything. It can work or not… and that platform stability is what could keep or lose a customer. That’s why to me it’s so important.”

A recording of the webinar is available for operators wanting to take a deeper look into how companies are preparing for the World Cup 2026 in LatAm.