'Friends' repeats key goals of sports betting ads
"Friends" and "South Park," two '90s pop culture classics, are among the most memorable non-sports TV shows for sports betting advertisers.
According to Wayne Friedman for MediaPost, sports betting ad placements on “Friends” reruns and “South Park” episodes increased by 394% and 528% respectively in the first six months of this year. The article didn't mention whether the increase in advertising during South Park's run was greater in reruns and new episodes, or if it was evenly spread across the two episodes. The animated series aired its 26th season on "Comedy Central" earlier this year.
iSpot.tv estimates that FanDuel accounted for 48.8% of sports betting ad impressions as of Aug. 15, up from 39.8% last year. A subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment (OTC: PDYPY), the world's largest online gaming company and the largest regulated internet sports betting operator in the United States.
FanDuel alone generated more ad impressions in mid-August than rivals DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG ) and BetMGM combined — the two operators combined accounted for 37.11% of sports betting ads during that period.
“Friends,” “South Park” make sense for sports betting ads
Created by David Crane and Marta Kaufman, Friends premiered in 1994 and ran until 2004. The characters are all members of Generation X, which makes the show very popular among this generation.
The show's broad syndication reach and appeal also made it popular with Millennials and Gen Z, many of whom were too young to watch the show or weren't even born when the show originally aired. These demographics are highly sought after and targeted by sports betting operators, which explains why only NBA and NFL games outperform reruns of Friends in terms of sports betting ad impressions.
In fact, the '90s sitcom outperformed PGA Tour events and ESPN "SportsCenter" in sports betting advertising through the first 7 1/2 months of this year.
After "Friends," "Patrol: Live" is the second-most-watched non-sports program excluding sports betting ads. This is a reality crime show that airs on the Reelz network.
South Park has proven to be a hit among Millennials and Gen Z, earning more commercial impressions than an NHL game as of August 15. "Young Sheldon" ranked fourth for sports betting ads among non-sports programming.
Looking forward to more sports betting ads
With college football in full swing this weekend and the start of the 2023 NFL season just eight days away, expect more sports betting promotions across all platforms.
The usual suspects FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM will likely lead the charge, but there may be some new faces as well. Through the first 7.5 months of 2023, PointsBet and FOX Bet ranked fourth and fifth in sports betting ad impressions.
PointsBetUS has since been acquired by Fanatics, while FOX Bet ceased operations after struggling to gain sufficient market share. Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN ) may also become a more prominent sports betting advertiser following its recently announced deal with ESPN .
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Source: www.casino.org
