Gambling industry spends big on advertising, but does it buy credibility?
The US gambling industry spent an estimated $3.9 billion on advertising and marketing in 2025, but new research suggests that investment has not translated into brand credibility.
Public relations and marketing firm 5WPR has released its first Gaming Trust Index, analysing spend allocation across sports betting, online gaming and land-based casinos alongside brand perception outcomes.
“The gambling industry has built enormous awareness over the past five years,” 5WPR CEO Matt Caiola said.
“What it has not built, in proportion to that spend, is credibility. Those are different investments — and the industry’s current allocation reflects a market that hasn’t fully recognised the shift from acquisition to retention that defines where the competition now lives.”
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The study draws on data from Kantar Media, MediaRadar and iSpot.tv, as well as financial disclosures from major gambling sites including Flutter Entertainment, MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, Penn Entertainment and DraftKings.
Television accounted for the largest share of spend at $1.42 billion, or 36%, followed by digital performance marketing at $980 million. Celebrity and athlete partnerships totalled $520 million, while earned media and PR accounted for just $90 million, or 2.3%. Responsible gambling programs received $60 million, representing 1.5% of total spend.
The report highlights a growing imbalance between acquisition-focused marketing and long-term trust building, with celebrity partnerships receiving nearly nine times more investment than responsible gambling initiatives.
It also identifies a widening “digital visibility gap” among land-based casino operators, which have been slow to invest in content strategies that influence AI-driven search results.
Meanwhile, the online gaming sector, which generated $12.8 billion in gross gaming revenue across seven regulated states in 2025, recorded the lowest communications spend relative to revenue, signalling potential challenges as further state legalisation looms.
“Every state that legalizes in the next two years is a communications competition as much as a product competition,” Caiola said.
“The operators building earned media presence now — before those markets open — will have a structural advantage that advertising spend at launch cannot replicate.”
Several states in the USA, including New York, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio, are expected to remain at the forefront of iGaming discussions in 2026, with active or proposed legislation, while others such as Indiana, New Hampshire and Wyoming have also expressed interest.
