Playtech announced that its iPoker network is in North America for the first time through the recent launch of PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel. Playtech’s iPoker platform is now powering poker games for FanDuel customers in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ontario. FanDuel is Playtech’s first poker licensee in the North American market, marking a milestone expansion of Playtech’s poker technology across regulated markets in the US and Canada.

Playtech’s iPoker network is one of the industry’s most established and trusted platforms. Bringing the network to North America in partnership with FanDuel – one of the country’s leading operators, reinforces the upward trajectory of Playtech’s broader North American growth strategy.

Marat Koss, Chief Interactive Gaming Officer at Playtech, said: “Debuting our industry-leading iPoker platform in North America with a valued partner like FanDuel is a defining moment for Playtech’s North American expansion. We’re immensely proud to bring our poker platform to three major regulated markets and support FanDuel in their mission to deliver a top-tier poker experience to players.”

FanDuel, North America’s premier online gaming company, announced Coaches Corner, a 10-episode original series premiering June 1 that unites the three head coaches of the United States Men’s Soccer for the first time. Gregg Berhalter, Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley join veteran broadcaster Rob Stone for unfiltered match analysis, tactical breakdowns and insider storytelling throughout the upcoming World Cup.

Together, Berhalter, Arena and Bradley led the US men’s soccer teams for more than two decades, collectively coaching the program through four World Cups and shaping every era of modern American soccer. Bruce Arena, the winningest coach in United States soccer history, guided the team to the 2002 World Cup Quarterfinals across two separate stints with the program. Bob Bradley won the group stage at the 2010 World Cup, logging 43 wins during his tenure as head coach from 2006 to 2011. Gregg Berhalter led the U.S. to the Round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and brings to the show the rare perspective of someone who both played for and coached the national team, having appeared in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups as a player.

“The World Cup is a global conversation, and FanDuel will be at the center of it, whether on the app, on the screen, and everywhere fans are engaging. Coaches Corner gives our customers the expert analysis and insider perspective they’re looking for when they engage with FanDuel,” Michael Shiffman, Executive Producer and Senior Vice President of FanDuel TV, said.

FanDuel TV’s Coaches Corner brings together the most accomplished voices in U.S. Soccer history for an inside look. As the United States co-hosts the World Cup for the first time in 32 years, Coaches Corner delivers the conversation fans cannot get anywhere else: legendary coaches, battle-tested perspectives and the kind of honest debate that only comes from people who have lived the pressure.

Hosted by Rob Stone, America’s foremost soccer broadcaster and the longtime voice of FOX Sports’ World Cup coverage, Coaches Corner is a coaching room conversation made public. Berhalter, Arena and Bradley will break down every United States Men’s Soccer match with the tactical depth, strategic insight and candid opinions that come from decades at the highest level. The coaches will offer starting 11 predictions, game plan breakdowns and assessments of upcoming matchups.

“What you get from Bruce, Bob and Gregg is the kind of candor and depth that only comes from people who have been in those shoes. Coaching the national team at a World Cup is a singular experience, and hearing all three of them reflect on it together is something special for any soccer fan,” Stone said.

The full 10-episode schedule is as follows:

• June 1 — World Cup Preview Show

• June 6 — United States Men’s Soccer Preview

• June 13 — Post USA vs. Paraguay match recap

• June 19 — Post USA vs. Australia match recap

• June 26 — Post USA vs. Turkey match recap plus Round of 32 preview

• June 30 — Round of 32 mid-round show

• July 8 — Quarterfinals preview

• July 13 — Semifinals preview

• July 17 — World Cup Final preview

• July 20 — World Cup recap and the future of the United States Men’s Soccer

Full episodes will be available across Tubi, FanDuel’s YouTube channel, FanDuel TV Extra (FanDuel’s free ad-supported streaming channel), FanDuel Sports Network, MSG Network and Spectrum LA.

By Conor Durnin, Co-Founder of The Unit

For years, the iGaming and sports betting industries have been able to deprioritise product innovation by turning their focus to aggressive customer acquisition spend and market growth. As long as new market opportunities have arisen and promotional activity has remained effective, operators have typically seen strong topline growth with this approach.

A look at some of the most recent earnings calls, however, suggests that the cracks are starting to appear in this model. Many global operators have become aware of this, with shareholder reactions prompting a return to a more customer-centric approach.

In their Q1 2026 earnings update, Flutter acknowledged that FanDuel had a smaller customer base than expected at the end of last year. Their CEO Peter Jackson publicly stated that the business needed to “go back to basics” to counter its issues with retention. Recently, the company reduced full-year EBITDA guidance from approximately $3.3bn to $2.9bn, while broader reporting pointed toward growing pressure around leadership and performance expectations.

If the dominant player in the U.S. market is openly discussing retention challenges, it suggests the industry is dealing with something much larger than a temporary dip.

Of course, marketing spend can drive downloads, registrations, and first deposits, but it doesn’t compensate for a product experience that fails to retain customers. FanDuel’s marketing succeeded in bringing users through the door, but they have admitted a need to cater to changing customer behaviour. Its post-earnings “improvement plan” focuses on functionality and features, and a product-based strategy.

With plenty of choice at their fingertips, modern betting customers can be unforgiving. If onboarding feels clunky, they leave. If live betting experiences feel slow or unintuitive, they don’t stick around. If same-game parlays are frustrating to build, they’re out.

The challenge for operators is that these UX and UI deficiencies can remain a hidden threat until it’s too late. During periods of market expansion, acquisition spend can cover up poor retention metrics and weak customer experiences. But eventually, markets mature, promotional efficiency declines, acquisition costs rise, and shareholders start demanding sustained profitability, rather than growth. At that point, as FanDuel has demonstrated, product quality becomes one of the primary commercial drivers for success.

Furthermore, the emergence and resilience of prediction markets increase the pressure on operators to focus on product quality. For years, the US sports betting market was heavily protected by state-by-state licensing. If an operator secured market access, invested heavily in acquisition, and established early brand recognition in newly regulated states, they were relatively insulated from competition. The barriers to entry were primarily regulatory and financial, rather than product-led.

Prediction markets, which are only bound by national CFTC regulation, threaten to disrupt that dynamic. While the regulatory position is still evolving, prediction markets are able to scale nationally far more quickly than traditional operators were able to in the post-PASPA expansion era. Hence, we’re seeing the likes of DraftKings make a significant push into the category (albeit one that is weighted towards marketing spend, rather than product).

Many of the traditional advantages sportsbooks once relied upon, including licensing barriers, first-mover advantages, and enormous acquisition spend, are becoming less impactful. In a market with lower structural barriers and more consumer choice, product experience becomes even more important. Simply put, more than ever, operators need to build products that customers genuinely prefer to use.

One of the biggest misconceptions in the industry is that operators do not understand where customer expectations are heading. In reality, most are run by very talented people who are keenly aware of the importance of better live betting experiences, smarter personalisation, stronger engagement mechanics, and more seamless user journeys.

The issue tends to be execution capacity. Internal product and engineering teams are often overwhelmed by maintaining existing systems, supporting market launches, handling integrations, and meeting regulatory obligations. That leaves very little room to innovate and create the projects that can be true difference makers.

Naturally, there’s no shortage of product investment among operators, but they may lack the capacity and dynamism to execute meaningful innovation fast enough to keep pace with the kind of changing customer expectations and behaviours that FanDuel recently referenced.

In mature markets, execution speed is a competitive advantage in itself. At The Unit, we partner with operators across regulated markets who are aware of the opportunities of quality product, but who need to outsource to achieve the capability and bandwidth required to execute quickly enough.

That may involve launching new betting products ahead of a major tournament, improving same-game parlay experiences before a new season, scaling frontend capability across multiple jurisdictions, or modernising legacy systems without disrupting existing operations.

FanDuel have been astute enough to recognise that ongoing success isn’t contingent on spend to fuel acquisition, preferring instead to focus on identifying customer behaviours faster, and retain customers more effectively.

The operators that build the infrastructure, partnerships, and delivery models needed to execute quickly, will create sustainable long-term advantages. The rest may learn that while marketing can bring customers through the door, only product quality convinces them to stay.