Marshawn Lynch has gone “Yeast Mode.” Dale Earnhardt Jr. is lounging by a pool in a fire suit. Livvy Dunne is bathing in a claw-foot tub in the Rose Bowl.
John Daly is just doing John Daly stuff.
This all makes total sense in context.
The first of the pre-regular-season-NFL television spots are landing as daily fantasy sports and sportsbook companies hope to leverage humor and star power to re-energize a gaming (read: gambling) public that goes dormant once the last strands of Final Four netting have been snipped.
As the new ads for national DFS and betting market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel have yet to arrive at a commercial break near you — and Kalshi’s reprise to its bonkers NBA Finals commercial is likely still being birthed in an AI fever dream — InGame has undertaken Round 1 of the Great Ad Blitz Battle with the players we know so far.
InGame consulted dozens of zero gambling industry and marketing professionals to assess and rank the contenders in these categories:
- Star power
- Campaign plot
- 1-877-Kars-4-Kids Factor (anticipated frequency x duration / entertainment value = potential annoyance level)
- The payoff
Fanatics Sportsbook
Star power:
The cast: Former gymnast, now influencer Livvy Dunne
The power: Eight million followers on TikTok, 5.4 million on Instagram, 194,000 on X (formerly Twitter), and assuredly great numbers on other platforms we’re not cool enough to know. The 22-year-old also has a boyfriend who’s good at baseball.
Scene switches to Fanatics HQ boardroom, laptops and whiteboards abound …
Executive 1: How are we finally gonna pass DraftKings and FanDuel this year? We need a campaign people will watch. How do we hook those 18-to-35-year-old males? Chad! What ya got?
(Points to Chad, who winces)
Chad: … Livvy Dunne?
Executive 1: Promoted!
Said Fanatics Betting and Gaming Chief Marketing Officer Selena Kalvaria: “As a disruptor brand, Fanatics Sportsbook is rewriting the category playbook. By leveraging the power of Fanatics and working with a cultural force like Livvy, we’re telling our story in a way that expands our reach with existing betting audiences — and speaks to new ones, too.”
GRADE: A+
Campaign plot:
The campaign is called “Explained by Livvy Dunne.” The 15- and 30-second ads are directed by Grammy-winning filmmaker Calmatic (Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Squabble Up”).
It’s perhaps the most accurately titled campaign in the history of marketing. Because Livvy Dunne explaining things is what happens. Mostly.
GRADE: A. It’s odd that this grade feels harsh, because the spot delivers on the promise, but it feels like these might have been knocked out in a couple hours (although we all know better).
1-877-Kars-4-Kids Factor:
The ads feel more concise than those of Fanatics’ counterparts. There’s no stale plotline or fake rapport between actors/athletes. But the delivery is a bit wooden and could use some personality. Let’s get Dunne off the cue card. Also, Fanatics has not signaled that more commercials are forthcoming.
GRADE: B
The payoff:
Fanatics obviously knows what it’s doing and who it’s targeting with this turn down Paige Spiranac Boulevard. Dunne’s social media reach figures to be worth its weight in FanCash. Here’s hoping the ads become less didactic and give her more to do. But, they nailed the campaign name.
GRADE: A-
Hard Rock Bet
Star power:
The cast: Boxer Mike Tyson, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., golfer John Daly (above), NFL and University of Miami alums Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, and Edgerrin James, among many ex-Hurricanes.
The power: One of the most successful/controversial boxers of all time, one of the most popular stock car racers of all time, a long-off-the-tee partier, and the collective winners of three Super Bowls and four national championships.
GRADE: A
Campaign plot:
Officially titled “Hard Rock Bet Party,” the ad series was created in partnership with 72andSunny, Smuggler, Redline Media Group, and Hard Rock Bet’s internal team. There are currently six live-action ads and more coming later in the season (those will feature Tyson — he’s not in the initial batch).
The campaign, according to a release, “is intended to represent the physical manifestation of the sportsbook app itself and the experience that it brings — it’s a place where sports, culture, entertainment, Florida football legends, and real fans come together to trade takes, place bets, and celebrate sports fandom.”
It’s a party, but it’s an old-guy party, which is an interesting approach. (And we need more of those, by the way). But whereas the Fanatics campaign is an obvious approach to the coveted 18-to-35 demographic, the average age of the Hard Rock party crew is 52, with Edgerrin James the youthful one at 46.
Said Hard Rock Digital Executive Managing Director & President Matt Primeaux: “We didn’t film a commercial — we threw a party. … It’s sports, culture, and entertainment colliding — pure Hard Rock. That’s our edge in a copycat sportsbook world.”
Although Hard Rock Bet is available in nine states, it leans heavily into its base of Florida — where it has a monopoly — and feels very much like an old Miller Lite ad shoot’s afterparty. This is a compliment.
GRADE: A
1-877-Kars-4-Kids Factor:
There’s generally not enough dialogue from any of the many, many characters to annoy. But if something will agitate viewers, it’s going to be that bleep-bleep-bloop-bloop slot machine-or-whatever sound that signals the start of the commercials.
GRADE: C
The payoff:
It’s an odd campaign. It feels less like an attempt to acquire new customers than it does a not-so-humble brag about the number of ex-athletes it can pack into a party. Maybe that’s the genius. Fun. Who knew?
GRADE: A+
PrizePicks
Star power:
The cast: Former NFL player and earthquake-causer Marshawn Lynch, actor Adam Devine, comedian Drew “Druski” Desbordes, Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush.
The power: Folks will buy just about anything from the charismatic Lynch, which is why his portfolio includes commercials for Nike, Skittles, Subway, Microsoft, Activision, and, in this realm, BetMGM. He’s a natural.
Devine will be at least vaguely familiar to Modern Family fans, but his presence may have some viewers drifting off figuring out why he looks familiar rather than soaking up all that PrizePicks information.
Desbordes is funny, and a social media powerhouse, as in 10.5 million Instagram followers, 9.9 million on TikTok, and 1.5 million on X. He, like Dunne, will appeal to the younger demographic that is the marrow of gambling company databases. The olds kinda-sorta might recognize him as the guy who wore the Barry Sanders jersey backward on ESPN’s First Take, prompting Monica McNutt to ask about his Shedeur Sanders outfit.
Bush won the Heisman in 2005, but has faded from football and broadcasting in recent years. He’ll also get the hey-is-that? treatment.
GRADE: B+
Campaign plot:
PrizePicks’ “It’s Good To Be Right” campaign, which was developed with advertising agency Preacher and KLUTCH Sports Group, “juxtaposes a world of comedic failures with the universal thrill of getting picks right on PrizePicks,” according to press materials. That’s quite the juxtaposition.
Said Prize Picks Chief Marketing Officer Mike Quigley: “One thing we know about PrizePicks users is they love to be right, so this campaign is an homage to everyone who knows that winning feeling.”
The first spots follow mismatched dudes Lynch and Devine cavorting around Los Angeles, trolling each others’ failed business efforts, such as Devine’s “Devinity” cologne and Lynch’s Yeast Mode cookbook. Eventually they coalesce around their love of winning on PrizePicks.
NOTE: According to PrizePicks, Lynch and Devine launched real-life, limited-edition versions of Devinity and the Yeast Mode book to stir you into a frenzy.
GRADE: B. We’ve seen the odd couple thing before. And the Bush-and-Druski version feels like an afterthought.
1-877-Kars-4-Kids Factor:
PrizePicks promises more than a dozen different commercials in the coming months, so the repetition piece of the annoyance factor could be low. And honestly, the first spots are pretty anodyne … although that may not be a good thing in marketing. That Devinity thing may get old quickly, though.
GRADE: C
The payoff:
Inoffensive, but boring. The hope is there’s more Lynch-Devine chemistry ahead or, better yet, just more Lynch in the unreleased ads. The same for Druski. He needs to be out front.
The winner (so far) is:
- Hard Rock Bet: Fun, name-dropping, doesn’t feel like its selling anything. (Is that good business?) Folks probably won’t linger before hitting the bathroom when it comes on, but they probably won’t curse out loud, either.
- Fanatics Sportsbook: It’s definitely a play for an impressionable and highly sought-after demo, but this is what ads are supposed to do. Let Livvy Dunne be more than a mascot, though.
- PrizePicks: Maybe there will be more ads where Marshawn Lynch and Druski get to do more. Better suggestion: Swap the pairings, and put them together. You’re welcome.
