A comprehensive examination of the current climate of television sports betting advertising in the United States reveals a distinct contraction in volume. This analysis, which spans a decade of data from 2013 to 2023, indicates that TV remains the foremost platform for sports betting advertising. However, there’s been a notable downward trend, with sports betting TV ad volumes diminishing by a full third compared to figures from the previous year.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) suggests that a strategic shift in localized marketing could explain this decrease, as more states continue to legalize sports betting. The AGA emphasizes the crucial role of advertising from legally sanctioned sportsbooks in both informing potential bettors about licensed operators and steering them away from unregulated options.
In the wake of sports betting’s legalization in new states, operators invariably initiate robust ad campaigns aimed at boosting awareness and securing their market share. Naturally, as these markets reach maturity, the initial fervor of advertising campaigns tends to subside, hence resulting in a reduction in ad volume.
The numbers don’t lie—there was an 11% year-on-year decline in sports betting TV advertising units. Zooming in on the particulars of 2023, sports betting constituted a mere 0.8% of the national TV advertising expenditure, holding a 0.4% slice of the overall TV ad market share. To put this in perspective, alcohol advertising accounted for 0.5%, while fast food and pharmaceuticals commanded a much larger presence at 3.8% and 14.1%, respectively. If this is to be translated into advertising frequency, for every single sports betting ad, there were eight for fast food and an overwhelming thirty-one for pharmaceuticals.
What’s more, spending on TV sports betting advertising experienced a 23% decline when juxtaposed with the statistics from 2022. Much more revealing is the broader media landscape where sports betting advertisements saw a $210 million drop in spending, which constitutes a 15% decrease from 2022—or an even starker 21% if daily fantasy sports are excluded. Across all media channels, the number of sports betting ads sank by 4% annually and a significant 20% from its peak in the 2021 period.
Moreover, the study crosses into the wider arena of all gambling advertising in the United States, identifying a 14% year-on-year slowdown in advertising spending, which, having peaked in 2022, faced a downturn in 2023. This decline represents the first non-pandemic related drop since 2016.
Drilling down further, spend on TV gambling advertising dipped 15% on a year-to-year basis. Digital advertising spend saw a sharper decline at 17%, while radio advertising expenditure remained stubbornly unchanged.
Thirty-eight states across the US have legalized sports betting, but the regulatory environment remains dynamic. For instance, Pennsylvania is considering legislative measures to prohibit the use of credit cards for online gambling transactions, including sports betting, with State Senator Wayne Fontana spearheading a bill to this end. If passed, Pennsylvania will align with Iowa, Massachusetts, and Tennessee in imposing such restrictions.
Additionally, there has been a recent wave of action against college proposition (prop) bets, such as that initiated by the NCAA, which declared a desired prohibition across all US markets. Ohio preempted this by enacting a ban in February, following a directive from the NCAA.
These legislative movements and advertising trends mirror the complex and evolving relationship between sports betting and its promotion through media, illustrating the ongoing adjustments within the sector in response to market maturity, consumer behavior, and regulatory pressures.
