Transformation of Sportsbooks’ Promotional Strategy: Reasons Clarified

In this article, Gaminator’s specialists explain the reasons behind this change. Our team will also gladly assist you with launching a niche business and promoting your project.

Standard Approaches: Losing Their Edge

iSpot’s latest research revealed that bookmakers’ operators still allocate most of their advertising budgets to NFL broadcasts. However, this business strategy is becoming less effective: the return on each dollar is declining, and the total number of impressions is lower than in the previous season.

Sportsbooks’ owners are reallocating contributions due to the decrease in key metrics. They are shifting some funds to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) segments, which enables broader coverage at a lower cost. Nevertheless, football continues to be a priority, with niche streams making up about 80% of the overall promotional budget.

Effectiveness persists in declining, though:

• NFL advertising expenditure for the 2023–24 season reached $129.5 million;
• in 2024–25, the figure totalled $119.4 million, representing an 8% YoY drop;
• the number of impressions decreased by nearly 15% annually.

In the 2nd half of 2025, operators are encountering the challenge of higher promotional spending amid slower growth in their customer bases. Meanwhile, the average cost of a single football commercial has hit $240,000, marking a record price for sports broadcasts.

NBA and MLB Segments: Growing in Popularity

Although no other athletic discipline offers the same level of audience reach as the NFL, marketers are progressively shifting their budgets towards more cost-efficient verticals.

Let us examine this trend by segment:

Basketball

In the 2024–25 NBA season, ad insertions increased by 23% YoY, while impressions grew by 9%.

Total expenditure reached $25.9 million, up from $24.5 million in 2023–24. The average broadcast cost during matches amounted to $28,000.

Baseball

In the MLB niche, the upturn was particularly notable, with advertising contributions soaring by a whopping 72%, increasing from $725,000 in 2023–24 to $1.25 million in 2024–25.

Impressions elevated by 12%, a modest rise considering the high level of expenditure. Despite this, the average price per stream remained low at $3,500, making baseball spots a cost-effective method for audience acquisition.

Prospects for the Reallocation of Promotional Budget

Key data on advertising across different sports niches, according to iSpot’s research:

1. NFL. The average price per ad is $240,000, with 4.2 million views per airing.
2. NBA. The similar figures are $28,000 and roughly 1 million, respectively.
3. MLB. The expenditure is $3,500, with each spot garnering about 320,000 impressions.

A comparison reveals that the football vertical offers roughly 4 times the coverage of the basketball segment, but the price per display is at the x8.6 rate. Baseball commercials are almost 6 times more cost-effective per view.

Industry experts forecast that the trend of promotion spending diversification will persist, as sportsbooks’ owners continually look for niches that provide a broad audience reach at lower costs.