Sports Betting Expands Its Reach to Younger, Diverse, and Casual Fans

01 October 2026

Sportsbook operators are pivoting from targeting core bettors to capturing a wider audience by enhancing their mobile-first products and tailored marketing to attract Gen Z, women, and sports fans of all levels of engagement.

Sourcess tell a compelling story of growth: the sports betting market has expanded as regulatory reforms open new territories and mobile betting overtakes web browsers. But bringing new bettors into the fold depends on crafting products and messages that will appeal across demographics.

How have operators changed their offerings to meet these priorities? Faster payments, bet builders, and live markets all help convert the casual fan into a committed customer. Mobile designers are creating interfaces that give bettors a constant stream of new options, without overwhelming them. And as leagues go global, operators are scrambling to lock in audiences by anticipating what each new market needs.

More dramatic is the way sportsbook ads have departed from targeting only the diehard, in favor of a more inclusive approach. Personalized messaging and celebrity endorsements have become key to broadening appeal — even as public health researchers raise concerns about gender-targeted ads and college sports betting marketing.

It's a race for the next generation of sports bettors. Here's how operators are meeting the moment.

New Product Lines Push Casual Fans to Commit

Online sportsbooks are increasingly focused on giving customers a variety of ways to express their fandom on a game-by-game and play-by-play basis.

One playbook that has proven popular is the "bet builder." Bernie Graham, Head of Product at Betfred USA, says these customizable bets let new bettors craft a stake they can understand, as many casual fans aren't versed in standard markets like the moneyline or totals.

"Bet builders can help ease the transition from casual to committed," says Graham. Rather than a straight-up bet on a team's victory, someone new can combine markets they understand, like "Capitals moneyline, red card, and none of the listed goalscorers to score in a match," he offers as an example. "It's accessible to the newly initiated."

Beyond customization, time is money in betting. Recent reports show new bets drive faster outcomes. Live markets, for example, let bettors feel in-the-moment excitement, while cash outs allow them to realize a return on their stake more quickly.

But in terms of impact on the bottom line, mobile speed remains king — and becoming ever more so. Figures published by Sportradar show that mobile retention rates jump by 40% across the board as users transition from one-time downloads to making regular bets. What's more, a 2024 study in the Journal of Digital Entertainment found that most bettors remain with a single operator, which makes generic, social-first user engagement a real win.

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Gen Z Frequented Smartphones, Sportsbooks Designed for Them

Evan Lahr, senior vice president of U.S. media partnerships at DraftKings, notes that Gen Z frequently accesses sports content and information via mobile devices. "Gen Z has actually grown up with the smartphone, using it to access content and platforms more than ever before compared to previous generations."

Some 87% of 18-24-year-olds now say they place bets through their smartphone, according to market research firm Gartner. And operators aren't just providing new options: they're using social features to drive loyalty through exclusive content, personal prizes, and referrals.

Jake Fountaine, chief revenue officer of William Hill USA, says that Gen Z bettors have already thought carefully about what constitutes an attractive sportsbook. Without the classic introduction to traditional sports content, younger fans spend less time learning individual teams. "They're coming in looking for something different, and we're making that available to them," he says.

In the U.S., that includes newly legal sports leagues and emerging betting formats like single-game sports fantasy or DFS. Elsewhere, operators are experimenting with "micro-bets," letting bettors stake on more granular events, like individual player performances, or moments like free kicks, in cricket and soccer. These offer allure by making maximum use of game events and minimizing the need to understand a sport's rules.

The sportsbooks themselves are branded in a way that's familiar to the Gen Z crowd — and offer an interface specifically designed to convert casual bettors. Fanatics' sportsbook by PointsBet launched in 2023, and already commands a 20% market share of sports betting in the U.S. Fountaine regards their success as a logical progression of the legacy FanDuel, whose DFS offerings had become a way to bet with minimal knowledge of each team.

Even newer to the market is PrizePicks — a social gaming platform best known for sports micro-games. Today, it offers College IQ, micro-markets around the March Madness tournament, and is expanding past U.S. borders and into e-sports.

But it's not just a matter of platforms: creators and celebrities also attract Gen Z demos. DraftKings has engaged influencer Zoë Kravitz to lead TV ads that emphasize the fun and value of mobile betting, and launched exclusive pop-up shop locations — one-off betting events bundled with a related content experience, designed to capture new users for the app.

It's a strategy that sportsbook operators have taken to lucrative effect. Research published by the Journal of Digital & Media Marketing shows that these exclusive creator-driven activations can earn operators unaided brand recall over 50% higher in target audiences.

Stars Become Betting Venues for Casual Fans

For sportsbook operators, betting has also become a way to cater to casual fans with strong preferences for individual stars over the overall team.