Beyond GGR: Why Player Sentiment Is the Real Engine of Revenue Growth
- Feb 9
- 5 min read
For decades, the iGaming industry has been obsessed with a single North Star: Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). As a metric, GGR is undeniable; it is the pulse of a company’s financial health, the sum of all wins against the losses and the ultimate benchmark for stakeholders. However, as we navigate the complexities of 2026, a shift is occurring in the boardrooms of the world’s leading operators. We are realising that GGR is a past indicator. It tells us what happened yesterday but says very little about what will happen tomorrow or the events that led to this result.
To predict the future of a brand, one must look at player sentiment – understanding how a player feels is becoming more profitable than knowing how much they bet today.
Defining player sentiment
Player sentiment is the aggregate of every touchpoint a user has with a brand. It is the frustration of a slow KYC process, the thrill of a personalised bonus, the trust built through transparent communication and positive references from external sources, the quality of UX in the app or website, and the sense of belonging within a community.
A player with positive sentiment can have a lifetime value (LTV) up to three times higher than a neutral player. Consequently, negative sentiment is the primary driver of churn, even if the player is technically winning. If the experience is poor in any of these areas, they will take their winnings, and their loyalty, elsewhere.
The sentiment shift: From transactions to emotions
The traditional marketing funnel in iGaming was built on a simple premise: Acquisition > Deposit > Play > Repeat. But in hypercompetitive landscapes, such as the Latin American markets, where players have dozens of apps at their fingertips, this linear model is failing. The missing variable is the emotional state of the user and how we can co-create engagement that feels natural to them.
Operators that own their proprietary technology platforms can gain a competitive advantage by using their data to act on player sentiment faster than competitors who rely on third-party providers.
The strategy
A global-scope, local-focus strategy is essentially a sentiment localisation engine. Understand that a player in England has a very different emotional relationship with a sportsbook than a player in Peru. By leveraging AI and machine learning, operators can analyse real-time behaviour to identify friction points.
Instead of waiting for a support ticket, state-of-the-art systems can detect when a player repeatedly clicks a "Withdraw" button that isn't responding, or lingers too long on a confusing Terms and Conditions page. By proactively triggering a helpful pop-up or a personalised message, they turn a potentially negative sentiment into a moment of real brand care. This proactive sentiment management is a direct contribution to a consistently healthy GGR across diverse markets.
Building emotional bonds
Operators can pivot away from the bonus wars and toward the brand experience by using tools such as gamification, loyalty programmes, and personalised automated flows in their platforms to drive positive sentiment.
For the player, trust and entertainment are paramount. When a platform doesn't just offer games, but also offers a narrative, it can tap into intrinsic motivation. By integrating feedback from the platform with insights from social media and other sources, an operator can identify that a player who feels part of a community is less likely to switch apps for a slightly higher bonus elsewhere. By focusing on customer service as their main differentiator – offering support via WhatsApp, phone, email, etc. – operators can build a trust buffer. By offering rewards that players genuinely find valuable and challenging them to complete missions, the player knows the brand understands their preferences and values them as clients. Then, when technical glitches inevitably occur, the positive sentiment banked over time helps prevent churn.
Measuring the sentiment KPIs
Now that we understand the importance of sentiment, how do we measure it?
To capture a truly holistic view of player sentiment, it is best to employ a hybrid framework that balances digital automation with human insight. By integrating CRM systems and automated survey platforms, operators can track real-time KPIs such as NPS and CSAT at key milestones, while using centralised dashboards to visualise trends and retention data. This quantitative infrastructure can then be layered with qualitative insights from surveys, focus groups, and interviews, ensuring that every data point is transformed into an actionable strategy for continuous improvement.
Forward-thinking operators should be moving toward dynamic metrics such as:
Sentiment Impact Score: Using AI-driven social listening tools to monitor social media, Reddit, and forums, operators can assign a numerical value to the "buzz" surrounding their brand.
Friction-to-Flow Ratio: Measuring how many interactions it takes for a player to move from a negative event, such as a lost bet, to a positive engagement, such as receiving a small reward received.
Customer Effort Score: Measuring the ease of customer interactions with service processes. A low effort score indicates that customers find it easy to engage with the platform, which correlates strongly with higher satisfaction and loyalty.
Chatbot Sentiment Analysis: Modern AI support tools can now detect anger or frustration in a user’s typing patterns, escalating cases to a human agent before sentiment becomes toxic.
Customer Lifetime Value: Not only as a traditional predictive metric, but also as a way to understand both immediate and future satisfaction and its impact on long-term profitability.
Measuring player sentiment is the strategic engine that fuels continuous improvement and growth. By rigorously tracking a suite of KPIs, from NPS to retention, operators can identify critical patterns that allow them to optimise service delivery and proactively adapt marketing strategies. Data-driven frameworks ensure that resource allocation and innovation remain aligned with evolving player needs, maintaining a sharp competitive edge in a dynamic market.
The sentiment roadmap
For operators looking to capitalise on player sentiment, here is a simple roadmap for integrating sentiment into a GGR strategy:
Humanise the technical process: Don’t let KYC or AML processes feel like an interrogation. Use human-centric language and progress indicators to reduce anxiety.
Invest in social proof: User-generated content (UGC) is a sentiment goldmine. When players see others winning, sharing their experiences, and having fun, it creates a collective positive sentiment.
The “surprise and delight” factor: Move away from predictable bonuses. A small, unexpected "thank you" bonus on a Tuesday morning creates a far stronger emotional peak than the standard 100% deposit match everyone is offering.
Responsible gaming as a brand value: Brands that proactively protect their players build long-term trust. Players who feel safe on a platform stay longer.
Operators who treat their players like numbers may find their GGR stable, but operators who treat their players like a community by listening to sentiment and responding with empathy and speed, will be the ones scaling lifetime value.
Conclusion: The new currency of iGaming
Gross Gaming Revenue is the result, but player sentiment is the cause. As we look toward the rest of 2026, the industry's winners will be those who master the "why" behind the "what".
Stop counting the bets alone and start counting satisfaction; the GGR will follow.
Bio: With a degree in Business Administration and Marketing and a Master's degree in Institutional Communication from Universidad Panamericana (Mexico), Jimena Sáinz has held key positions in leading gaming companies such as Betsson Group and Logrand Entertainment Group.
Her experience in the online sector includes leading the entire marketing department, from awareness and advertising to user retention and loyalty. As a marketing and omnichannel consultant, she has worked with renowned brands, helping them stand out in a highly competitive market. Currently, this experienced marketing and public relations professional is a consultant at MBOC.
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