New York, March 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Optimove Insights today released March Madness 2026 — A Data-Driven Blueprint for Sportsbook Operators, a comprehensive analysis of betting behavior across the 2025 tournament. Optimove Insights is the analytical and research arm of Optimove, the creator of Positionless Marketing and the #1 Player Engagement Solution for iGaming and sports betting operators.
Drawing on more than 34.5 million bets placed by over one million players, from Selection Sunday on March 16 through to the Championship on April 7, 2025, the report examines player acquisition trends, engagement patterns, and long-term retention data across each stage of the tournament, giving sportsbook operators a data-driven blueprint to identify where the value lies in bettor behavior and how to capture it in 2026.
Key Highlights
- The acquisition window is short: 50% of all first-time depositors arrive within the first 35% of the tournament; operators must be fully activated before the opening round tips off
- Engagement drives value: Players who bet across 10 or more days wager 269% more per day than single-day players, making retention as important as acquisition
- Not all new players are equal: Selection Sunday and Championship Day produce the highest-quality players, with six-month retention rates of 92% and 83%, from just 17% of total first-time depositors
- The Moveable Middle is where the battle is won: The 1st and 2nd Rounds deliver 46% of all new players. Operators with the analytics to distinguish long-term prospects from occasion-only players in this cohort will generate significantly stronger ROI
- March Madness is a gateway, not a destination: Players acquired during the tournament reactivate consistently across the NBA and NHL playoffs, MLB, and the NFL Kickoff, making this one of the most powerful events in the US sports betting calendar.
According to Pini Yakuel, CEO of Optimove, "Every major sports event produces the same three-tier player pool; regulars at the top who need no nudge, one-and-done players at the bottom, and the Moveable Middle in between. The sportsbooks with the right analytics will know the difference in real time. Deep marketing intelligence is critical for marketers to connect in the moment, and Positionless Marketers are the ones equipped to move on a dime because they have data, creative, and optimization power at their fingertips. They are empowered to connect with the right players, with the right messages at the right moment."
Access the Full Report
To access March Madness 2026 — A Data-Driven Blueprint for Sportsbook Operators go here.
About Optimove
Optimove is the creator of Positionless Marketing and the #1 Player Engagement Solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. Positionless Marketing frees marketing teams from the limitations of fixed roles, giving every marketer the power to execute any marketing task instantly and independently. Positionless Marketing has been proven to improve campaign efficiency by 88%, allowing marketing teams to create more personalized engagement with existing customers.
For two years running, Optimove has been positioned as a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs, recognized for its AI-driven decisioning, prescriptive insights, and proven ability to orchestrate thousands of personalized campaigns in real time across channels. AI-led marketing is a hallmark of Optimove’s visionary leadership.
By embedding AI directly into its platform as early as 2012, Optimove paved the way for today’s Positionless Marketing standard. Its Positionless Marketing Platform includes Optimove Engage and Orchestrate for cross-channel campaign decisioning and orchestration; Optimove Personalize, a digital personalization engine; and Optimove Gamify, a loyalty and gamification platform.
Today, its comprehensive AI-powered suite is at the leading edge of empowering marketers to streamline workflows from Insight to Creation and through Optimization. Optimove provides industry-specific and use-case solutions for leading consumer brands globally.
About Optimove Insights
Optimove Insights is the analytical and research arm of Optimove, dedicated to providing valuable industry insights and data-driven research to empower B2C businesses.
Olivia Arruda Optimove 8585881053 olivia_a@optimove.com
