Altenar: “The future sportsbook is real-time, personalized, and API-driven”

As the sports betting landscape across the Americas continues to evolve, operators are facing growing pressure to balance localization, regulatory compliance, and product innovation. At the same time, trends such as player props, in-play betting, and micro-markets are reshaping customer expectations, while major events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup are driving investment in scalability and engagement tools.

During SBC Summit Americas in Fort Lauderdale, Yogonet spoke with Frederico Caputi, Senior Manager, Sales & Business Development at Altenar, about the company’s priorities for the region, the biggest localization mistakes operators still make, and how sportsbook products are adapting to increasingly personalized and real-time betting experiences. He also discussed Altenar’s preparations for the World Cup and the opportunities emerging across regulated markets in the U.S. and Latin America.

SBC Americas is bringing together the entire industry in one place. What are Altenar’s main priorities for the show this year, and what conversations are you hoping to have on the ground in Fort Lauderdale?

Our main priority at SBC Americas is very commercial and very practical: strengthening partnerships and accelerating deals already in motion across the U.S. and LatAm.

At the same time, we’re focused on three core discussion tracks:

Modular sportsbook architecture – operators are no longer looking for monolithic platforms; they want flexible, API-driven components they can control and customize.

Speed to market in regulated environments – especially in Brazil and emerging U.S. states, where timing is a competitive advantage.

Operational efficiency – margin optimization, risk management, and automation are top of mind given tighter regulatory and tax frameworks.

On the ground in Fort Lauderdale, we’re primarily looking to engage with Tier 1 and Tier 2 operators scaling in multi-jurisdiction setups, media and affiliate-led brands entering betting, and existing partners looking to expand product scope (casino, PAM integrations, new verticals).

With the Americas becoming increasingly competitive and regulated, what key trends are you expecting to dominate discussions at SBC Americas, particularly across the U.S. and LatAm markets?

We’re seeing convergence, but with important regional nuances.

In the U.S., we see a continued dominance of player props and micro-markets, a shift toward entertainment-driven betting UX, and increasing importance of same-game parlays (SGPs) as a margin driver.

In LatAm, there’s a rapid transition from grey to regulated markets (Brazil being the headline case), a strong demand for localized content, payments, and front-end flexibility, and growth in mobile-first, low-latency experiences.

However, across both regions, data and pricing sophistication are becoming a differentiator. Regulatory compliance is also now a product feature, not just a requirement. And lastly, operators across the continent are also looking to own more of the customer experience, rather than relying on fully managed solutions.

Altenar has spoken extensively about the importance of localization in markets like the U.S. and Latin America. From your perspective, what are the biggest mistakes operators still make when trying to localize sportsbook experiences for these audiences?

There are three recurring issues we see.

The first one is superficial localization. Operators translate the UI but don’t adapt odds formats, bet types, and content hierarchy. Localization must go deeper into user behavior and cultural betting patterns.

Many operators still ignore payments and onboarding friction. Particularly in LatAm, there’s a failure to integrate local payment methods, instant withdrawals, and frictionless KYC. This kills conversion more than product quality does.

The third error is applying a one-size-fits-all product strategy. What works in New Jersey will not work in Brazil or Mexico. Operators often underestimate regional sport preferences, betting frequency differences, and sensitivity to bonuses vs odds.

True localization requires configurable platforms, not static deployments.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to become one of the biggest betting events in industry history, especially with the tournament expanding and being hosted across North America. How did Altenar prepare its sportsbook infrastructure and product offering for this moment?

From a B2B sportsbook provider perspective, this is primarily a scalability and trading challenge. We prepared across four pillars.

The first one is infrastructure scalability: stress-testing for peak concurrent traffic spikes and cloud elasticity and redundancy across regions.

The second pillar is odds and trading depth. This involved expanding pre-match and in-play coverage, more granular player and team props, and enhanced risk management tooling.

Latency and uptime optimization is the third pillar. In-play betting requires sub-second data processing, and there was also a focus on real-time feeds and rapid bet settlement

Lastly, front-end and engagement features are also key for the World Cup. SGPs, bet builders, and live betting UX enhancements, plus personalization based on player behavior, were also part of the preparation for the event.

The World Cup is not just about volume. It’s about retaining users acquired during the event, so the product experience must scale and convert.

Altenar has highlighted the growing importance of player props, in-play betting, and micro-markets, particularly among U.S. bettors. How is player behavior changing, and what does that mean for the future structure of sportsbook products?

We’re clearly moving from event-based betting to moment-based betting. Key behavioral shifts accompany this shift, including shorter attention spans, which lead to a preference for instant outcomes. We are seeing higher engagement with in-play and micro-markets, and an increased appetite for customizable bets (SGPs, bet builders).

What does this mean for sportsbook products? That product architecture must evolve. Systems need to support high-frequency betting cycles, and real-time pricing and risk adjustments are critical.

Content has become dynamic. Markets are no longer static lists; they’re contextual and personalized feeds. In response, trading models must adapt. More automation is key, but with human oversight for volatility events.

In this new scenario, UX becomes as important as odds. Especially in the U.S., betting is increasingly an entertainment product, not just a transactional one

Ultimately, the future sportsbook is real-time, personalized, and API-driven. It’s designed around user behavior, not just sporting events.