Are US Sports Betting Ops Still Getting Bang For TV Advertising Buck?

US sports betting brands spent $22.9 million on TV during NFL games this season. That's up from $18.3 million in the same time period last season, but it doesn't account for the cost of ads.

FanDuel and DraftKings are in a winner-take-most race. The NFL is the most popular sport in terms of audience size and search engagement.

Sports betting operators are cutting back on marketing budgets. Some operators still spend money on endorsement partnerships. This year operators planned to spend $1.8 billion on advertising, up from $ 1 billion last year. Next year the growth is expected to plateau at $0.9 billion.

FanDuel is the second most seen brand on TV with 2.46% ad impressions. It is behind only insurance giant Geico with 3.01%. FanDuell has 39% US market share.

Caesars is pulling back from TV. Last year, Caesar's announced it would invest $1 billion into its interactive division by 2022. This year the company's presence is notably less pronounced.

Stopping advertising will show up later in the business as shrinking market share and revenue. Caesars needs to decide if it's worth putting the money to work elsewhere.

PointsBet has dropped NBC as its official sports betting partner of Sunday Night Football. BetMGM has picked up the Sunday night football game deal.

EDO tracks internet search engagement in the minutes following a brand’s advertisement. For sports betting, there is an 8% year-over-year increase in search activity. However, that increase comes with a 25% increase of ad spend.

The cratering of cryptocurrency value has opened up an opportunity for sports betting advertising. There were 4051 ads during the first two NFL weeks this year, compared to last year's 40,000.