Russell Karp of DataArt explores how leading US sportsbooks spend their marketing dollars, examines their strategy and results and looks for a path to profitability.
Fall and winter are intensely hot seasons for sports betting with NFL, NBA, college football and basketball, NHL and MLB post-season action. So it’s no surprise that the last three months of the year became the most expensive in terms of advertising.
BIA Advisory Services forecasted that up to $1.8bn would be spent in 2022 to promote gambling products online, with a sizeable chunk going towards sports betting. In the first week of the year alone, ad spending by the four biggest sportsbooks rocketed to a lofty $24m.
But how do these heavy marketing investments impact the sports betting business? And are sportsbooks getting a return on their investment?
Where does the money go?
To acquire as many users as possible, as early as possible, sportsbooks invest heavily in marketing. A larger share of voice, paired with attra..