On 11 March 11th, 2026, Matthew Ferrara, Altenar’s Sales Manager for North America, joined the Fireside Chat: The Next Generation of Sports Bettors at NEXT Summit New York, alongside representatives from Fanatics and Stokastic.
The session focused on a key shift in the industry: a new generation of bettors that has grown up with mobile-first, instant, and digital-native experiences, and expects sports betting to match that standard.
Betting is now part of the entertainment ecosystem
For this new generation, betting has never been offline or slow. It has always been mobile, on-demand, and integrated into their daily digital behavior.
As discussed during the panel, betting is no longer just about placing a wager. It is part of a broader entertainment experience, shaped by social interaction, real-time engagement, and community.
Users are not only betting. They are discussing picks in group chats, reacting to live events together, and engaging with content alongside betting activity.
For operators, this changes the role of the product. It is no longer just a tool; it becomes part of the overall user experience.
Expectations are set outside the betting industry
One of the key themes from the discussion was that sportsbooks are no longer competing only with each other. User expectations are shaped by the best-performing digital products across all industries. Speed, simplicity, and seamless UX are not competitive advantages anymore; they are expected by default. Any friction -especially during high-demand moments- directly impacts retention.
Personalization is becoming critical
Ferrara highlighted a gap that still exists across many sportsbook products: the way content and markets are presented. “If you go to a sportsbook and there are 3,000 options, for the recreational user it can be quite intimidating,” he said.
The challenge is not the number of markets, but the lack of structure and relevance. For a new generation of bettors used to personalized feeds across platforms, sportsbook interfaces need to evolve in the same direction.
“Everything’s catered to us based on our interactions. Sports betting should be no different,” Ferrara noted.
For Altenar, this means focusing on delivering relevant markets faster, reducing the need for manual search, and creating a more intuitive, user-led experience.
Building around operator needs
A key point throughout the discussion was the importance of flexibility. In a market that continues to shift, product development cannot be static. Altenar’s roadmap is shaped by operator requirements, market dynamics, competitive insight, and continuous product evolution based on market demand.
“We look at the broader digital landscape and ask what users expect today, how are products evolving across social media, ecommerce, AI and everyday digital applications, and how do we bring those standards into the sportsbook experience,” Ferrara analyzed.
The direction of the market is clear. The next generation of bettors is not adapting to sportsbooks. Sportsbooks need to adapt to them. That means less friction, more relevance, more intuitive experiences, and stronger integration with how users already consume digital content.
Operators that move in this direction will be better positioned to engage and retain users in an increasingly competitive landscape.