Better Collective Introduces AI Betting Tool to Keep Users Engaged
Summary
Better Collective has launched Playbook, an AI-powered betting product designed to streamline how bettors turn tips or social content into live stakes. Piloted during this year’s Super Bowl, Playbook uses image recognition and smart deeplinks to convert picks into ready-to-place bet slips in sportsbook apps and sites, removing the need for manual entry.
Launched in the US on 3 September ahead of the NFL season, the tool signals a strategic shift from pure customer acquisition to retention and engagement. Better Collective positions Playbook as a way to capture bettors at the moment they decide to bet, expanding monetisation opportunities for its media brands and sportsbook partners despite recent company challenges.
Key Points
- Playbook is an AI-driven product that recognises images and creates smart deeplinks to populate bet slips automatically.
- The platform was trialled during the Super Bowl and launched in the US on 3 September, timed with the NFL season.
- Better Collective is pivoting from an acquisition-first affiliate model to a retention-focused strategy to boost lifetime value.
- Playbook integrates with Better Collective’s media communities (Action Network, VegasInsider, Playmaker HQ) to reach active bettors.
- The launch comes amid financial and organisational headwinds: layoffs in 2024, an 18% revenue decline in Q2 2025, and recent senior departures.
- The company plans to expand Playbook and roll out further AI-powered betting tools to new markets.
Context and Relevance
Playbook illustrates how affiliate publishers are evolving: rather than only sending new sign-ups to sportsbooks, they now aim to capture in-play engagement and repeat bets. For sportsbooks and affiliates this could raise conversion rates and deepen user engagement, but it also raises questions around responsible gambling, compliance and how betting-oriented AI is regulated in different jurisdictions.
Author style
Punchy: this isn’t just another product drop — Playbook may be a turning point for Better Collective as it tries to stabilise revenue and regain momentum. If it works as promised, it tightens the link between content and betting in a way affiliates have long wanted.
Why should I read this?
Because it’s a neat peek at how AI is being used to make betting frictionless — and why affiliates are moving from chasing new customers to keeping the ones they already have. Short version: it could change how tips on social or editorial pages turn into real bets, fast.