eSports
Influencers, Content and eSports: Unleashing the Power of Dynamic Strategies in the eSports Ecosystem
The sports betting industry is undergoing significant growth worldwide with restrictions loosening and new markets emerging. New opportunities create fierce competition among sportsbooks, and this has led to them devising increasingly expensive and aggressive advertising campaigns.
Public figures and influencers have become a popular go-to for sportsbooks promotions, such as Michael Jordan partnering with DraftKings or Jamie Foxx with BetMGM. Big names are costly, and sportsbooks havenāt realised the ad spend used on these campaigns is going to waste. Without the right precautions in place, up to 22% of ad spend is lost to fraud according to Juniper Research.
The big budgets behind high-profile brand campaigns need to translate into real user engagement. To achieve this, sportsbooks must ensure their digital channels are optimised to capture the surge in interest these campaigns generate. Without proper management, this potential can be lost to inefficiencies like invalid traffic, diluting the impact of their investments.
Ad Budgets Going to Waste
In todayās competitive landscape, sportsbooks need to make every click count. In 2023 alone, The American Gaming Association estimated that over $1.9 billion was spent on advertising campaigns in the US. With such a large amount of spend in play, itās crucial that sportsbooks see as big a Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) as possible.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns are vital for sportsbook growth but can be disrupted by invalid traffic (IVT). IVT includes both malicious activity, like fraudulent bots, and unintentional actions, such as users repeatedly clicking on ads without intent to convert. These interactions inflate impressions and skew campaign performance data, leading to higher customer acquisition costs (CACs) and inefficient allocation of ad spend. Effectively managing IVT ensures that ad budgets drive genuine engagement and measurable growth.
Investing into influencers and celebrities also forces sportsbooks to bid on brand keywords to prevent their competitors stealing potential users searching for them. Up to 29% of PPC budgets are spent on this bidding according to Wordstream. As competition for brand keywords increases, PPC budgets are depleted without generating any new net revenue.
As campaigns become more expensive than ever, sportsbooks canāt afford to let profits fall to ad fraud. Instead of cutting budgets, sportsbooks should focus on analysing their campaign strategy.
Problematic Navigational Traffic
Navigational traffic is also presenting a significant challenge to sportsbooks alongside ad fraud. Navigational traffic refers to existing customers clicking on branded keywords to log into their accounts. While this seems convenient and harmless enough, this behaviour drastically inflates CACs. Like ad fraud, this can skew the effectiveness of PPC campaigns. By utilising paid search results instead of organic links to navigate to the site, costs are driven up without contributing to new user acquisition.
In addition to the challenges posed by navigational traffic and ad fraud, the competitive landscape for first-time depositors intensifies the need for strategic bidding on Google search. Brands investing heavily in influencers or sponsorships of major sporting events to generate awareness and drive potential users to search for them. However, without securing top placements in paid search results, these prospective customers may be intercepted by competitors before reaching the organic search listings. This creates a critical juncture where the effectiveness of a brand campaign hinges on converting that intent-driven traffic into first-time depositors, ensuring marketing spend achieves its goal of meaningful user acquisition.
First-time depositors are a critical metric for sportsbooks, and this issue directly impacts the cost efficiency of acquiring them. High CACs make marketing budgets less effective, reducing overall ROI.
Shoring Up Your Defences
Before launching costly ad campaigns, sportsbooks should adopt a multi-faceted approach to address ad fraud. IVT typically goes unnoticed, so to prevent this sportsbooks should monitor and analyse their campaign traffic for any suspicious activity. It is possible to identify IVT by looking out for signs such as irregular spikes in traffic from unknown locations or high pageviews. Fraudulent traffic can then by highlighted and removed.
The advancement of technology has made ad fraud more difficult to identify, and legacy fraud tools fail to detect IVT. They donāt analyse traffic at the impression level or consider the context of the business advertising. Sportsbooks can leverage ad-verification platforms to compensate for this. This allows sportsbooks to analyse and report suspicious traffic in real-time. Fraud can then be blocked before it has a chance to harm budgets.
Sportsbooks can also deploy tactics to reduce the impact of navigational traffic on CACs. Methods include encouraging existing customers to use mobile apps or direct bookmarks to log into their accounts instead of paid search campaigns. This decreases their reliance on PPC campaigns for navigation and protects budgets.
Keeping Profits in Sportsbooksā Hands
Influencer and celebrity campaigns have proven to be a popular and useful tool in reeling new users and profits. However, if sportsbooks donāt have the essential precautions in place, they risk losing these profits to advertising fraud.
To make the most of their advertising efforts, sportsbooks need to prioritise their traffic. Implementing sophisticated tools to analyse traffic and filter out fraud will allow sportsbooks to protect their interests and focus on driving future growth. This way, they can secure their position in an increasingly competitive landscape.
Written by: Chad Kinlay, Chief Marketing Officer, TrafficGuard
A driven, open-minded, creative senior marketer with a strong sense of dedication and commitment. With over 15 years of progressive international experience in marketing and communications management, Kinlay has a credible history of commercial success.
BASILISK, the global esports organization built to champion science, announced the signing of legendary fighting game competitor Justin āJwongā Wong as captain of its newly formed Fighting Game Community (FGC) Division. Wong will lead BASILISKās entry into the FGC by recruiting players, developing community events, and creating FGC – science crossover content.
āJustin isnāt just a competitive genius ā he is a cultural icon and humble leader within the FGC. We are incredibly proud to have him leading our FGC division and support the amazing work he already does for the community,ā said BASILISK co-founder Christopher Bothur.
A nine-time Evolution Championship Series (Evo) Champion and Guinness World Record holder, Wong brings unparalleled FGC credibility and expertise to BASILISK. His reach extends across the entire FGC fandom of millions, and he was immortalized in Evo Moment #37 which has over 100 million views.
As Captain of BASILISK FGC, Wong will leverage BASILISKās data analytics to scout and train the next generation of FGC pros.
āMath is super important to fighting games. Iām excited to join scienceās esports team. Iām passionate about finding promising players with a positive mentality and shaping them into the next big thing. I want to see somebody else in the spotlight after me and help them reach their potential. If we can discover the next world champion, that would be fantastic,ā said Wong upon joining BASILISK.
The signing comes on the heels of BASILISKās new partnerships with The Planetary Society and Caltechās Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM), announced in July. These collaborations create a powerful bridge between renowned scientific institutions and gamers, which Wong will amplify to his millions of followers and fans.
āJustin is a dream addition to our organization. He exemplifies the dedication and analytical capacity required to be an esports champion or great scientist,ā added BASILISK co-founder Hans Kassier.
Wong becomes the second āGOATā (Greatest of All Time) to join BASILISK, alongside Finnish StarCraft 2 legend Joona āSerralā Sotala, who just captured the SC2 Esports World Cup Championship in July 2025. The signing also creates opportunities for cross-over content with BASILISKās diverse roster, including chess Grandmaster Vincent Keymer and award-winning science communicator Kyle Hill, who brings over 2.5 million followers and a vast network of science enthusiasts to the organization.
Nine-time Evo Champion and Guinness World Record Holder Brings Legendary Status to Captain New Team, Recruit Talent, and Advance Scienceās Role in Competitive Gaming
BASILISK, the global esports organization built to champion science, today announced the signing of legendary fighting game competitor Justin āJWongā Wong as captain of its newly formed Fighting Game Community (FGC) Division. Wong will lead BASILISKās entry into the FGC by recruiting players, developing community events, and creating FGC – science crossover content.
āJustin isnāt just a competitive genius ā he is a cultural icon and humble leader within the FGC,ā said BASILISK co-founder Christopher Bothur. āWe are incredibly proud to have him leading our FGC division and support the amazing work he already does for the community.ā
A nine-time Evolution Championship Series (Evo) Champion and Guinness World Record holder, Wong brings unparalleled FGC credibility and expertise to BASILISK. His reach extends across the entire FGC fandom of millions, and he was immortalized in Evo Moment #37 which has over 100 million views.
As Captain of BASILISK FGC, Wong will leverage BASILISKās data analytics to scout and train the next generation of FGC pros.
āMath is super important to fighting games. Iām excited to join scienceās esports team,ā said Wong upon joining BASILISK. āI’m passionate about finding promising players with a positive mentality and shaping them into the next big thing. I want to see somebody else in the spotlight after me and help them reach their potential. If we can discover the next world champion, that would be fantastic.ā
The signing comes on the heels of BASILISKās new partnerships with The Planetary Society and Caltechās Institute for Quantum Information and Matter (IQIM), announced in July. These collaborations create a powerful bridge between renowned scientific institutions and gamers, which Wong will amplify to his millions of followers and fans.
āJustin is a dream addition to our organization,ā added BASILISK co-founder Hans Kassier. āHe exemplifies the dedication and analytical capacity required to be an esports champion or great scientist.ā
Wong becomes the second āGOATā (Greatest of All Time) to join BASILISK, alongside Finnish StarCraft 2 legend Joona āSerralā Sotala, who just captured the SC2 Esports World Cup Championship in July 2025. The signing also creates opportunities for cross-over content with BASILISK’s diverse roster, including chess Grandmaster Vincent Keymer and award-winning science communicator Kyle Hill, who brings over 2.5 million followers and a vast network of science enthusiasts to the organization.
Compliance Updates
Oddin.gg Officially Registered with LOTBA as a Supplier in the City of Buenos Aires
Oddin.gg has been officially registered as a supplier by the Lottery of the City of Buenos Aires (LOTBA). This authorization clears the way for Oddin.gg to provide its end-to-end esports betting ecosystemāincluding its Odds Feed, Risk Management, BetBuilder, Widgets, and moreāto licensed operators in the City of Buenos Aires. The milestone reinforces Oddin.ggās strategic focus on supporting partners across Latin America.
LOTBA, the regulatory authority for online gaming within the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is well known for its rigorous compliance and technical standards. While the body manages licensing and enforcement, suppliers must undergo a formal registration process before providing services to local operators. Oddin.ggās successful registration confirms that it has met all relevant technical, financial, and compliance requirements.
Juana Bischoff, Senior Business Development Manager LATAM at Oddin.gg, said: āBeing officially registered with LOTBA marks an important step in Oddin.ggās long-term commitment to the Latin American market. Esports is gaining real traction across the region, and we want operators in Buenos Airesāand beyondāto have the tools and insight to deliver a top-tier esports betting experience. Weāre not just bringing leading technologyāweāre bringing the local expertise and regulatory awareness needed to help our partners like Betsson and Jugadon grow.ā
-
Canada6 days agoAGCO Removes Cap on Seller Commission for Charitable Lottery Products
-
Latest News6 days agoWinpot names Miroslava Montemayor as brand ambassador
-
Gaming6 days agoGlobal Gaming League Launches New Era of Competitive Video Gaming with T-Pain vs. NE-YO Showdown and More
-
Latest News6 days agoDraftKings Reports Second Quarter Revenue Growth of 37% to $1513 Million
-
Latest News6 days agoBMM Testlabsā Travis Foley Appointed Chair of IGSAās Emerging Technology Committee
-
Latest News6 days agobet365 Announces Official Launch in Kansas
-
Latest News6 days agoArizona Department of Gaming Releases April Sports Betting Figures
-
Compliance Updates3 days agoAU10TIX Launches Free Assessment Tool and Readiness Guide to Help Organizations Navigate Child Safety Age Assurance Compliance