Sportsbooks Already Ramping Up their Marketing Campaigns for 2025-26 NFL Season with NFL Preseason Promotions
Football fans have been waiting for almost 6 months for the NFL Preseason season to start. While it does not compare to the actual season, preseason Games make for a good appetizer and gives them some much need NFL betting practice. However, they are not the only ones looking forward to the Preseason as Sportsbooks are Getting Ready for the2025 NFL Preseason with big promotions and an increase in advertising.
The 2025 NFL Preseason officially starts on Thursday, July 31 2025
As the 2025 NFL preseason kicks off, top sportsbooks like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM are going all-in on advertising and promotions to dominate the betting landscape. With football fans eagerly returning after a long offseason, sportsbooks are seizing the moment to launch high-impact ad campaigns, offer irresistible bonuses, and capture new users before the regular season begins. From national TV spots and YouTube partnerships to mobile-first promos and celebrity endorsements, the competition to become the go-to NFL betting app is heating up fast.
In this article, we’ll break down how sportsbooks are ramping up their presence ahead of the 2025 NFL preseason and what bettors can expect in terms of offers, visibility, and innovation.
Sportsbooks are Expanding their Marketing Campaigns for the Upcoming NFL Season
Leading sportsbooks, DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, have significantly expanded their linear TV ad spend leading into the NFL season. Last year, between mid-August and the early regular-season weeks, DraftKings spent $36.4M (+22%), FanDuel $27.1M (+14%), and BetMGM $11.5M, showing clear momentum going into 2025. While overall casino/gambling ad spend is up 13.5%, TV ad volume hasn’t grown as rapidly due to rising production costs
Looking at the current ads we are currently seeing on the internet, their spending this season has not decreased at all. In fact, according to iGaming Reports, more money is being spent.
However, they are not the only ones doing it as offshore sportsbooks are also showing an increase in ad spending. This can be seen as sports handicappers, news site, and social media platforms are publishing more NFL preseason content.
Tactical Marketing & High-Value Promos are Increasing
These companies are heavily promoting first-bet safety net offers, odds boosts, and risk-free bets as camp kicks off:
- Fanatics Sportsbook rolled out a “$1,000 no sweat first bet” offer—eligible once users place a $1+ qualifying wager daily for 10 consecutive days. Losing wagers are refunded in bonus bets (up to $100/day), valid in about 20 states excluding NY
- Bet365 launched a similar promo: $150 bonus after a $5 bet plus up to $1,000 first-bet safety net via bonus bets if the initial wager loses
According to Frederick Saint-Jacques, President of Blind Monkey Media, an online marketing company for small businesses, these promos aim to “attract new users and reward early engagement at the onset of training camps.”
Smart Mobile Outreach & Search Advertising
According to analysis from MobileAction, sportsbook apps are investing in search-result ads and custom NFL-themed product pages to target high-intent fans searching for “NFL season start” or related terms. Brands like Fanatics Sportsbook, Bally Bet, Fubo, Paramount+, and Thrillzz are leaning into this strategy
Custom asset pages serve as conversion-oriented landing zones, while search ads help reach fans in the moments they’re actively researching.
New Media Platforms & Strategic Partnerships
1. YouTube Joins the Game
YouTube will exclusively stream the NFL’s opening regular‑season game (Chiefs vs. Chargers in São Paulo, Sept 5, 2025) to a global audience, free on free YouTube accounts and to YouTube TV subscribers in the US. This marks the first time NFL is allowing a full game broadcast via YouTube, signaling a shift in media strategy for sportsbooks and advertisers alike
YouTube’s growing status among marketers gives sportsbooks access to broader reach—with targeted ad buys aligning around these live events.
2. Official NFL-Brand Partnerships
Since 2021, the NFL allows a select group of “Approved Sportsbook Operators” to advertise across league programming and use official branding. This group includes DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM, PointsBet, WynnBet, and now ESPN Bet (replacing Barstool Sportsbook).
ESPN Bet relaunched in late 2023 and is ramping up for broader awareness heading into the 2025 campaign, though as of February 2025, it holds only 5% market share (well short of Penn’s 20% target by 2027)
Betting Trends & Data-Driven Advertising
The football season is very profitable for sportsbooks as football gamblers tend to bet more. Thus, it is only logical that sports betting sites would want to capture as much of the market as they should. However, the main reason why they are advertising so early is because football bettors tend to stick to one sportsbook for the first 2 months of the football season. This means that now is the time to acquire loyal bettors.
Promos heavily feature parlay bets, which grew to 27% of total wagers in states like IL, NJ, and CO in 2024, up from 22% in 2021. Binance-style marketing emphasizes parlays as high-reward opportunities despite low win probability, helping sportsbooks monetize aggressively even with small bets
Sportsbooks support advanced tools from partners like Genius Sports, which provides real-time NFL data, streaming, odds, and embeddable analysis for media and bookies. That platform enhances the ability to advertise data-enabled features and live betting throughout the preseason and beyond
What it All Means for Sportsbook and Bookies looking to Profit from the 2025-26 NFL Season
| Strategy | Purpose/Impact |
| Increased TV & streaming spend | Capture fans early, shape brand choice before regular season begins |
| Promotional onboarding | Drive trial and new sign-ups via first-bet rebates and bonus bets |
| Mobile & search targeting | Meet fans at NFL keyword searches and offer direct conversion pages |
| Influencer + celeb returns | Use familiar faces to add credibility and shareability to campaigns |
Looking Ahead to the 2025 NFL Preseason and Beyond
Training camp ads are already live – Expect to see more advertising from July through early August as promos intensify.
- Preseason games begin July 31 with the Hall of Fame Game, followed by standard exhibition matchups into early September. All but two teams play three games; the Chargers and Lions get an extra due to their Hall of Fame tie-in.
- Expect sportsbook advertising to pivot from national media to state‑specific offers as legal betting availability varies by region.
- Platforms will adapt quickly to live streaming innovations, like YouTube and NFL+ offerings.
Final Word on Sportsbooks Getting Ready for the 2025 NFL Preseason
Sportsbooks are undertaking a full-court press in 2025 and unleashing bigger media budgets, high-value first-bet offers, smart mobile and search marketing, celebrities, data partnerships, and experimental streaming moves (like via YouTube) to solidify user acquisition well before the season officially kicks off.