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The NFL's official gambling partners were all hoping to cash in this Super Bowl with legalized sports betting more popular than ever before.
FanDuel, DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment took different marketing approaches as they attempted to lure millions of would-be gamblers to their platforms, placing their own bets on whether it's more effective to run a pricey in-game ad, pregame spot, or both.
"They're using the Super Bowl as somewhat of a coming-out party," David Carter, a sports business professor at the University of Southern California, told Ad Age of the three brands. "This is the first Super Bowl where you really felt that legalized gambling is a viable alternative to the office pool."
Long an opponent of legalized sports betting for fear it would ruin the integrity of the game, the NFL this season finally embraced the space by allowing seven sportsbooks to air up to six commercials during individual games for the first time. That agreement helped the league net a record $1.8 billion in sponsorship revenue, according to IEG, a sponsorship consultancy.
Last year, DraftKings became the first sports betting brand to air a commercial during the Super Bowl, opting for two 15-second ads with its spokeswoman Jessie Coffield speaking directly into the camera about the platform's $1 million prediction challenge.
DraftKings was expected to be the only betting brand with both a pregame and national in-game spot, the latter of which cost brands up to $7 million for 30 seconds of airtime on NBC. It took more of a creative route in this year's Super Bowl spot by introducing a character called the "Goddess of Fortune" with agency VaynerMedia. The spot promoted a free $1 million bet.
"At first you have to educate what it is you're all about and maybe there was that look and feel to that last year because gambling was still on its way in," Carter said. "It's one thing to have a shotgun blast and let people know you're out there, but at some point thereafter, you've got to let them know what it is...