Sports Betting Operators Boost TV Advertising Spending

Since the repeal of PASPA in 2018, sports betting has seen significant growth, with nearly 40 US states now offering some form of sports betting. This expansion has led to a highly competitive market where betting operators are constantly striving to attract new customers through various promotions and sports-related content, such as live streaming, news updates, scores, and odds.

A crucial aspect of this customer engagement strategy is advertising, particularly on television. According to a recent report citing estimates from EDO Ad EnGage and published by MediaPost, spending on TV advertising for sports gambling increased by 10%. The total spending reached an impressive $237.8 million during the period between September 1, 2023, and December 26, 2023.

Unsurprisingly, sports-focused TV programs were the primary platforms for these betting operators to advertise their services. The report notes that sports gambling impressions soared by 52% to a staggering 20.7 billion, up from 13.6 billion the previous year. This increase is primarily attributed to the number of airings more than doubling from 26,950 to 59,810.

Interestingly, the report also highlighted substantial growth in non-sports TV advertising for sports betting. Networks like American Heroes Channel, Discovery Life Channel, truTV, and TBS attracted significant attention from sports betting operators, with thousands of airings during the specified period.

Despite the overall increase in TV advertising spending, some networks witnessed a decline in sports gambling ads. For instance, Fox's online sports gambling ad spending for the NFL decreased from $24.4 million in 2022 to $10.7 million in 2023. Similarly, NBC saw a drop from $20.2 million to $12.4 million in sports gambling ad spending. ESPN also experienced a decline from $10.2 million to $6.22 million, likely due to more games airing on its sister network, ABC.

The report underscores the competitive nature of the sports betting industry and the strategies adopted by operators to capture the attention of potential customers.