In the world of sports athlete endorsements have long been a cornerstone of marketing strategies, usually resulting in massively lucrative returns for both the player and the brand or industry involved. Across virtually every major industry, it’s a common trend to leverage the star power and huge influence of sports figures. This can help significantly boost brand recognition and instill consumer trust. For sectors that are heavily regulated like the casino industry, such endorsements can be particularly helpful, usually increasing visibility and providing a wealth of credibility to them.
Ever since the growing influence of the iGaming industry and online casinos, for players in the US who engage in online gambling, athlete endorsements have acted like a guiding beacon to help them select trustworthy platforms. According to gambling expert Ciaran McEneaney, US players are advised to vet online casinos based on several critical aspects before playing as not all offshore sites are secure.
The safest online casinos ranked by experts like McEneaney usually boast robust security features but also provide other perks like attractive welcome bonuses and faster payout speeds. These kinds of distinguishing factors can make a lot of difference given how massively popular and competitive the online casino industry is worldwide.
Given that widespread popularity, the trust that athlete endorsements provide to the casino brands they partner with can be invaluable. In most cases, athletes are viewed as role models and paragons of key traits like discipline and clean living, easily translating into a message of reliability and quality whenever they endorse a platform or brand. This association also has the effect of being able to significantly alter public perception—something that is particularly pronounced among members of a marketing base who may be skeptical about the brand or industry in question.
Given the often negative wrap that casinos and gambling in general often unfairly receive, public perception can become an all-important factor and even determine the success or failure of newer brands in the industry. In such a harsh commercial environment, the level of trust star sports personalities may be able to provide can be crucial in online gambling and among new-age sectors like crypto gambling, where concerns about security and fairness play a significant role in a player’s choice of casino.
In such cases, the endorsement of a respected athlete can reassure players that a casino adheres to high standards of operational integrity and customer care since the opinion of famous athletes carries major influence, even in other industries and realms, like politics. Moreover, athlete endorsements can significantly widen a casino’s market reach and open up its business to entirely new fan segments.
For instance, if a casino is owned by an American brand, it may do well among American consumers if it uses an NFL or NBA star for endorsement. However, given the massive global reach of soccer, if it uses someone like Cristiano Ronaldo, it may attract millions of customers from places like Europe, Asia, Oceania, and Africa since Ronaldo is highly revered in all those regions too.
Despite this seemingly straightforward model of athlete endorsements to boost the credibility of casino brands, the reality of the gambling industries’ often overly harsh and restrictive regulations means it’s not even possible to take advantage of such marketing strategies. This is because many states in the US and many other jurisdictions severely limit or even outright ban advertising in the gambling sector.
However, in cases where such advertising is allowed, it can provide those casino brands with a huge edge internationally. Overly restrictive laws against using famous people for gambling advertising are examples of the kind of restrictions that have been sending enthusiasts in their droves to play at less restrictive offshore casinos. As these locations make it easier for players to experience perks like anonymity and a more private experience, they are quickly becoming far more appealing than the sites regulated by highly developed nations like the UK, Australia, and Canada.
However, rather than losing the tax revenue that could be generated from these players choosing local platforms to gamble on, if regulations are relaxed and jurisdictions are open to the intersection of sports and the entertainment industry playing a more active role in casino endorsement, it can have the opposite effect—driving players to such platforms and fully making use of the star power provided by athletes. The fact is, sports and gambling have always been intertwined.
This is why the effect of having a famous athlete endorse a casino is usually so well-received. To illustrate, Las Vegas has always been famous for hosting some of the largest boxing events there’s ever been in history. Given that reputation, if a famous boxer endorses a casino there, it will usually have the immediate effect of sending fans flocking there as they will always associate that venue with the object of their fandom.
All this adds up to a simple fact—athlete endorsements of casinos and gambling will always be a good marketing idea. However, whether brands that want to make use of this strategy and have the resources to do so are allowed to will always depend on the local laws that govern gambling advertising.
