The fast-growing online gambling ad category is picking up steam. BIA Advisory Services, working with data from Nielsen Ad Intel Service, forecasts ad spending by local online gambling services will hit $1.8 billion this year. Over the air and digital radio will surpass $164 million as online gambling continues to grow into a major category, especially for companies that have sports stations in their portfolio, which offer a rich source of potential sports betting gamblers.
Both estimates are upward revisions to numbers BIA released in March when it forecast $1.6 billion will be spent by online gambling services on advertising in 2022, with $150 million going to local radio stations.
“With the potential of more states, such as California coming on board in the next couple of years, this new vertical is poised to deliver profitable advertising revenue opportunities,” BIA says in a sampling of data and insights from the just released BIA’s Online Gambling Forecast.
Over the air radio’s share of wallet in the lucrative category is currently around 8% and BIA estimates it will maintain this level through the end of its forecast in 2026.