Most people see the 2026 football tournament as a logistical titan: 48 teams, 16 cities, and a whirlwind of 104 matches. But for Artur Michalak, the Product Manager behind CupCenter’26, these aren’t just logistics; they are data points waiting to be turned into a narrative.
As we gear up for the most ambitious football tournament in history – spanning three countries and multiple time zones – we sat down with Artur to pull back the curtain.
We wanted to know what it’s like to build a “digital stadium” and why, for him, data is the ultimate form of storytelling.
Artur, before we dive into the product itself, could you share the journey that brought you here? Where does your personal connection to the world of sports begin?
For over 30 years, sports have been the core of my life, starting from an early fascination with football and athletics. This journey evolved from my own experience in team sports to a deep passion for the strategic nuances of snooker, darts, Formula 1, and chess.
I’ve always been drawn to the patterns behind the performance, which eventually led me to STATSCORE. Here, I can channel this lifelong expertise into our products, where sports data acts as the engine driving everything we create.
When you first started defining what CupCenter’26 would become, what was the key focus guiding your team?
It’s easy to get lost in ‘feature creep’ – adding buttons just because you can. But my North Star was simple: eliminate the ‘second screen’ friction. We’ve all been there. You’re watching the game, but you’re constantly tab-switching on your phone to see the table, checking xG insights, and googling who that sub is. I wanted to build a place where the fan never has to leave. My goal was to create a ‘home base’ that feels as alive as the match itself. If a fan feels the tension of the 90th minute through our interface, we’ve won.
Let’s be real – 104 matches is a nightmare for a media desk. How does CupCenter’26 help a publisher actually handle that workload?
That was the biggest pain point we solved. Most newsrooms are terrified of the 2026 schedule. We built CupCenter’26 to be ‘Zero-Maintenance.’ It’s a fully automated powerhouse. Once it’s integrated, which we can do in just 48 hours, the standings, brackets, and live updates move on their own. I’m essentially giving editors their lives back. You don’t need a team of fifty to cover the competition like a giant; you just need our tech handling the grunt work while your writers focus on actual storytelling.
Traffic is one thing, but how does the product help a publisher pay the bills?
That’s right. Our partners don’t just want engagement; they want ROI. We’ve baked monetization surfaces directly into the experience. There are dedicated spaces for sponsor logos and ad placements that don’t feel like ‘noise’ – they’re part of the data flow. We’ve created a premium environment that advertisers actually want to be in because fans stay on the page 3 times longer than average.
This will be the first tournament of this scale in the AI and Big Data era. How is CupCenter’26 future-proofing a publisher’s brand for the next generation of fans?
The “next-gen” fan doesn’t just want to see the score; they want to see the why. They grew up with video games and instant access to deep analytics. By integrating advanced metrics like Expected Goals (xG) into a clean, mobile-first interface, we are helping publishers bridge the generational gap.
STATSCORE is setting the standard for how sports will be consumed for the next decade. We’ve built this to be the benchmark for every major sporting event that follows.
Ready to bring Artur’s vision to your audience?
Explore how CupCenter’26 can transform your coverage of the world’s biggest tournament.
