Originally published April 2025. Updated November 1, 2026.
Which gambling digital marketing campaigns are worth studying in 2026? Ten cases from 2018 to 2025 stand out: deals and listings at Caesars, Flutter and DraftKings, product launches at FanDuel, Fanatics and BetMGM, Penn Entertainment's media bets that failed, two responsibility programs, and the Entain and William Hill settlements. Each case is tied to a filing, a regulator or a named outlet, and company claims are labelled as company claims.
How was this list of gambling campaigns compiled?
This list uses only cases that could be traced to a filing, a regulator, a company release or a named trade or news outlet. Where outlets disagree on a figure, both figures appear with their sources. Inclusion does not mean a campaign was profitable.
Selection rules and labelling
Company claims are labelled as company claims, and allegations are labelled as allegations. Operator case files that could not be tied to a named source were cut from the ten and are listed at the end of the page as further reading. Financial figures for 2025 come from annual reports and company results releases published in February 2026.
How did deals and listings build scale for gambling brands?
Three cases show operators using acquisitions, mergers and stock listings to signal scale to players, regulators and investors.
1. Caesars buys William Hill and adds its rewards program
Caesars Entertainment completed its acquisition of William Hill PLC on April 22, 2021, for about $4.0 billion according to Caesars' own announcement, or £2.9 billion per its SEC quarterly filing. NJBIZ reported that William Hill customers would get access to Caesars' loyalty program and a single wallet across sports betting and online gaming, and that Caesars would sell William Hill's non-U.S. properties.
Caesars then put its casino identity into sportsbook advertising. Its Caesars Sportsbook creative cast J.B. Smoove as Caesar alongside the Manning family, supported by Caesars Rewards and the resort brand. The sportsbook profile is at Caesars Sportsbook.
Lesson: A casino brand paired an acquired sportsbook with the rewards program its casino customers already used, so the sportsbook did not have to build a loyalty base from zero.
2. Flutter folds PokerStars and Sky Bet into one group and lists in New York
Flutter Entertainment completed its combination with The Stars Group on May 5, 2020, bringing PokerStars, Sky Betting and Gaming, Fox Bet and BetEasy into a group that also held Paddy Power, Betfair and FanDuel, iGaming Business reported. The same report put the combined annual revenue at £3.8 billion. Reported deal values differ: SBC News called it an $11 billion merger, while law firm Osler, which advised The Stars Group, gave a $15 billion enterprise value.
Flutter began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on January 29, 2024, according to its SEC-filed announcement, and moved its primary listing there on May 31, 2024, per its annual report. Chief executive Peter Jackson said in the company's statement that FanDuel's number one U.S. position made the U.S. the natural home for the listing. AGBrief reported Flutter's U.S. sales at £3.6 billion for 2023, up from £191 million in 2018.
The scale paid off in 2025. Flutter's fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results reported revenue of $16.4 billion, up 17%, with a 41% share of U.S. sportsbook gross gaming revenue and a 28% share of U.S. iGaming in the fourth quarter. U.S. revenue rose 33% in the quarter.
Lesson: Per SBC News, Flutter said its local brands would keep autonomy inside the larger group, and it explained its listing in terms of where its profits were expected to come from.
3. DraftKings lists through a SPAC, then buys its way into casino and lottery
DraftKings completed its combination with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. and SBTech on April 23, 2020, and began trading on Nasdaq as DKNG the next day, per its SEC-filed press release. Public Gaming International valued the merger at $3.3 billion and reported that chief executive Jason Robins said the SPAC structure protected DraftKings from a risk a traditional IPO carried during the pandemic.
DraftKings then widened the brand through deals. It bought Golden Nugget Online Gaming in 2022 for $1.56 billion to enter online casino, and it closed the Jackpocket acquisition on May 22, 2024 at total consideration of $773.1 million, per its 2024 Form 10-K. Its acquisition-heavy strategy is analyzed in The DraftKings Performance Branding Paradox.
The 2025 Form 10-K shows the result. Revenue rose 27.0% to $6.05 billion from $4.77 billion in 2024, while sales and marketing spend rose 9.1% to $1.38 billion from $1.26 billion. Adjusted EBITDA reached $620 million against $181.3 million a year earlier, and 2025 was the company's first year of positive net income, at $3.7 million, according to the company's fourth-quarter release as reported by AlphaStreet.
Lesson: DraftKings chose a listing route that fit a market shut down by COVID-19, and revenue grew faster than marketing spend once its customer base was in place.
Which product-led gambling campaigns worked?
Three launches won attention because the product itself carried the message.
4. FanDuel builds its sportsbook app in six months
FanDuel opened its Meadowlands retail sportsbook on July 14, 2018, and it became the most popular sports betting venue in New Jersey that month, iGaming Business reported. FanDuel head of product Nik Bonaddio told Fortune the team had about six months to build the app after the Supreme Court ruling, and the app soft-launched in early September 2018. New Jersey regulators first allowed a five-day test, per Gambling Insider.
FanDuel then added a media personality to the product. It signed Pat McAfee as an exclusive partner in 2019, and in July 2020 it expanded the deal, which FanDuel described as the first official partnership between a legal sportsbook and a sports media personality. By Super Bowl day 2025, Flutter said FanDuel had 3 million active customers placing 17.7 million bets with $470 million wagered, per interactive investor. The brand profile is at FanDuel.
Lesson: FanDuel timed the launch to the start of the NFL season, worked through the regulator's test period first, and later gave the product a recognizable voice.
5. Fanatics ties betting rewards to team merchandise
Fanatics Sportsbook launched publicly in four states in August 2023 after six months of beta testing, per Covers. Its FanCash currency converts dollar for dollar into bonus bets or team merchandise, and the Fanatics launch release listed 5% FanCash on same game parlays, 3% on parlays and 1% on straight bets. These are company figures.
Fanatics bought the U.S. operations of PointsBet in 2023 for $225 million and added betting to an existing merchandise and fan relationship. The profile is at Fanatics Sportsbook.
Lesson: Fanatics used a reward that fans could spend in its existing merchandise store, which no pure sportsbook could offer.
6. BetMGM turns loyalty and responsible gambling into brand pillars
BetMGM, the joint venture of MGM Resorts and Entain, connects online play to MGM Rewards, treats responsible gambling as a visible brand pillar and puts executives on the record about player protection. Celebrity creative, including Jamie Foxx and Tom Brady, sits on top of that base. The six-move playbook is in How BetMGM Used Strategic PR, and the brand profile is at BetMGM.
The results appear in BetMGM's FY 2025 business update. Net revenue rose 33% to $2.8 billion, with iGaming up 24% and online sports betting up 63%. EBITDA reached $220 million, up $464 million from a $244 million loss in 2024, and the venture returned $270 million in cash to its parents in the fourth quarter. BetMGM named its omnichannel position in Nevada, where digital play links to MGM Resorts properties, as a differentiator.
Lesson: A casino loyalty program and a named responsibility program were the base, and the 2025 numbers show the venture reaching profit on that base.
What happens when a gambling brand is built on media?
One case at Penn Entertainment shows media audiences that did not convert into bettors, twice.
7. Penn buys Barstool, sells it back for $1, then ends ESPN BET
Penn Entertainment bought Barstool Sports for about $550 million, Gambling News reported, and sold it back to founder Dave Portnoy for $1 in 2023, per SBC Americas. Portnoy said Barstool had underestimated how hard it is to operate in a regulated business. Penn's sportsbook then rebranded from Barstool to ESPN BET.
Penn launched ESPN BET in November 2023 under a 10-year deal that gave it exclusive use of the ESPN trademark for $150 million a year plus warrants, according to Penn's filing. In November 2025, Penn and ESPN agreed to end the licensing deal early and rebrand the app theScore Bet on December 1. iGaming Business reported the venture cost Penn $150 million a year and held about 3% of the U.S. market. ESPN said it had driven 2.9 million new users into Penn's ecosystem, per iGaming Next, and named DraftKings as its official sportsbook partner within an hour of the announcement, Gambling News reported.
Lesson: A large media following did not turn into meaningful market share, and new users arrived without the spend returning enough share to justify either deal.
How are operators building responsibility into marketing?
Two cases show responsibility moving from a brand claim to shared rules and shared tools.
8. The AGA bans college deals and risk-free ads
The American Gaming Association updated its Responsible Marketing Code for Sports Wagering on March 28, 2023. The update barred sportsbook partnerships with colleges and payments to college athletes for name, image and likeness, and ended the use of "risk-free" for promotional bets, per the Associated Press via WHYY. It also required anyone featured in a betting ad to be 21 or older, per SBC Americas, with a grace period for existing assets until July 1, 2023, per the AGA release.
Lesson: The AGA's chief executive acknowledged the update reflected criticism of the industry, per the AP, so the code changed the rules before more states did. Operator performance against these standards is measured in the 5W Responsible Gambling Index 2026.
9. GAMSTOP gives UK players one self-exclusion switch
GAMSTOP launched in April 2018 as Great Britain's national online self-exclusion scheme, and more than 500,000 people had registered by the milestone iGaming Business reported. The same report cited an Ipsos evaluation in which 78% of surveyed users said the scheme delivered the results they wanted. The Gambling Commission required online licence holders to take part, per law firm Popall.
Lesson: One registration reached every licensed operator, so responsibility became shared infrastructure and not a brand-by-brand promise.
What do regulatory failures cost gambling operators?
Two settlements show the price of compliance gaps, one criminal and one regulatory.
10. Entain and William Hill pay £585 million and £19.2 million
On December 5, 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service approved a deferred prosecution agreement with Entain over the alleged failure of its predecessor GVC to prevent bribery, mostly in Turkey, between 2011 and 2017, per the CPS announcement. Entain agreed to a £585 million penalty and disgorgement, a £20 million charitable donation and £10 million in costs. The court applied a 50% discount for cooperation, Forensic Risk Alliance reported. Entain's chairman called it a legacy matter involving a business sold six years earlier, per Shares Magazine. That is Entain's characterization, and the offences are alleged.
On March 28, 2023, the Gambling Commission announced that three William Hill businesses would pay £19.2 million for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures, the largest settlement in the regulator's history at that point, per LBC. One customer opened an account and spent £23,000 in 20 minutes without checks. A spokesperson for 888, which owns William Hill, said the settlement covered a period under previous ownership, per ITV News.
Lesson: A predecessor's conduct became the current owner's headline in both cases, and the regulator's examples were accounts opened and money spent with no checks, so easy sign-up carried a compliance bill.
What do these 10 gambling campaigns have in common?
The ten cases share one pattern: results depended less on creative than on an asset the operator already controlled or lacked, such as a rewards program, a retail audience, a license or a regulator's confidence.
Group
Cases
What decided the outcome
Scale, deals and listings
Caesars, Flutter, DraftKings
An existing customer base or listing venue that the deal could build on
Product-led launches
FanDuel, Fanatics, BetMGM
Timing, regulator cooperation, a reward fans could spend and a loyalty base
Media-led bets
Penn: Barstool, ESPN BET
An audience that did not convert into bettors
Responsibility
AGA code, GAMSTOP
Shared rules and tools that applied across operators
Regulatory failures
Entain, William Hill
Compliance gaps that outweighed marketing gains
What numbers anchor the 2025 results?
Flutter: $16.4 billion revenue, up 17%, with a 41% U.S. sportsbook share in the fourth quarter.
DraftKings: $6.05 billion revenue, up 27%, with sales and marketing up only 9.1%.
BetMGM: $2.8 billion net revenue, up 33%, and $220 million EBITDA.
Penn and ESPN: $150 million a year for about 3% of the U.S. market before the deal ended.
What should gambling marketers take from these cases?
Which other operator campaigns are worth studying?
Three further operator models did not make the ten because their public record is thinner, but each shows a distinct asset.
Hard Rock Bet launched in late 2023 on the Seminole Tribe of Florida's gaming compact and the global Hard Rock music brand. See the property examples in the 25 best casino marketing campaigns.
BetRivers, from Rush Street Interactive, has emphasized loyalty, retention and responsible operator behavior over the largest welcome bonuses.
Underdog Fantasy and PrizePicks built pick'em products between fantasy sports and sportsbooks, leaning on creator partnerships. The disclosure and age-gating limits are summarized in Casino and Sportsbook Influencer Marketing: Rules and Risk.
Which gambling marketing campaigns are worth studying?
This page covers ten sourced cases from 2018 to 2025, including Caesars' William Hill deal, Flutter's NYSE listing, DraftKings' SPAC listing, FanDuel's app launch, Fanatics' FanCash rewards, BetMGM's loyalty model, Penn's Barstool and ESPN BET bets, and the Entain and William Hill regulatory settlements.
Did ESPN BET work for Penn Entertainment?
No. iGaming Business reported that ESPN BET cost Penn $150 million a year and held about 3% of the U.S. market before Penn and ESPN agreed to end the deal in November 2025.
How much revenue did DraftKings and BetMGM report for 2025?
DraftKings reported $6.05 billion in 2025 revenue, up 27% from $4.77 billion. BetMGM reported $2.8 billion in net revenue, up 33%, with $220 million in EBITDA.
How much did the Entain bribery case cost?
Entain agreed to pay £585 million in penalty and disgorgement, plus a £20 million charitable donation and £10 million in costs, under a deferred prosecution agreement approved on December 5, 2023. The underlying offences are alleged failures to prevent bribery.
What did the AGA change in its sports betting marketing code?
On March 28, 2023, the American Gaming Association barred college partnerships and college athlete name, image and likeness deals, required people in betting ads to be 21 or older, and ended the use of risk-free in promotions.
Where can I find U.S. sports betting market share and lottery figures?
Everything-PR keeps those figures on its gambling and lottery pillar pages, linked above, so this page stays focused on sourced campaign cases.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team is the staff byline for news, analysis and features on communications, reputation, AI visibility and digital discovery. Everything-PR has published since 2009. AI tools assist with research and drafting, and every article is reviewed by a human editor before publication. Coverage follows the Editorial Policy, and substantive corrections are noted on the article under the Corrections Policy.
