U.S. Gambling Industry Spent 8.7x More on Celebrity Endorsements Than on Responsible Gambling Communications in 2025, 5W Research Division Finds.

$520 million on celebrity and athlete partnerships. $60 million on responsible gambling programs and communications. The ratio is now appearing in ESG ratings, legislative testimony, and AI search citations. 

MIAMI, July 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The 5W Research Division today released the 5W Responsible Gambling Communications Audit 2026 — a 24-month industry analysis examining how the U.S. gambling industry communicates about responsible gambling and what that communications posture is costing in regulatory, ESG, and AI-search outcomes. 

The audit reviewed 30 operators across sports betting, online casino & iGaming, and land-based casino. Data sources included 47,000+ earned media articles, 180+ ESG disclosures and 10-K filings, 240+ state regulator filings, and 2,400+ AI engine queries across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews. 

The U.S. gambling industry spent $3.9 billion on marketing and advertising in 2025. Of that: 

• $520 million went to celebrity and athlete endorsement partnerships.
• $60 million went to responsible gambling programs and communications.
• Ratio: 8.7 to 1 — the highest of any regulated American consumer category with a public-health dimension.

For context: U.S. tobacco's ratio is below 1.5-to-1 post-Master Settlement. Alcohol is approximately 4-to-1. Pharmaceuticals run near 1-to-1 under FDA-mandated risk communication. 

Six headline findings: 

1. The 8.7-to-1 Ratio. No publicly traded operator surveyed has issued a specific defense in investor communications.
2. Earned Media Underinvestment. $90M on earned media against $3.9B total — 2.3%. 34% of branded search results are not operator-controlled.
3. ESG Disclosure Gap. Only 4 of 12 publicly traded operators disclose RG investment as a percentage of marketing spend.
4. Regulator Communications Asymmetry. In 11 of 38 legal markets, state gaming commissioners receive proactive RG communications from fewer than three operators per year.
5. The AI Citation Gap. BetMGM cited in 78% and DraftKings in 64% of AI responses for strongest RG programs. Six other major operators are cited in fewer than 20%.
6. The Pre-Legalization Penalty. In Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina, operators that published RG content in state media before legalization achieved faster regulatory approval.

The 5W RG Communications Index scored each operator on a 100-point scale. Top performers: MGM Resorts International (81/100), BetMGM Sportsbook (78/100), BetMGM Casino (74/100), DraftKings (71/100), FanDuel (66/100). Bottom performers: Las Vegas Sands (41/100), ESPN Bet (38/100), Fanatics Sportsbook (34/100), bet365 (29/100), Stake.us (22/100). 

"The gambling industry has built the most visible advertising ecosystem in American consumer marketing in five years. It has not built the credibility infrastructure to match it," said Ronn Torossian, Founder and Chairman of 5W. "The 8.7-to-1 ratio is no longer a marketing department metric. It is a capital markets metric. It is in Sustainalytics. It is in MSCI. It is in legislative testimony in California, Texas, and Florida. And it is in the answer ChatGPT gives a parent who asks which sportsbook is safe for their kid in college." 

The audit recommends five communications investments to close the gap: disclose RG investment as a percentage of marketing spend, build owned-media RG content the AI engines can cite, establish executive visibility on RG topics outside crisis windows, engage regulators proactively in pre-legalization markets, and reallocate 3–5 percentage points of marketing budget toward earned media at parity with celebrity partnerships — representing $117M to $195M redirected at industry scale. 

The full audit is available free at 5wpr.com/research/responsible-gambling-audit-2026/.

About 5W 

5W is the AI Communications Firm, building brand authority across the platforms where decisions now happen — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — alongside earned media, digital, and influencer channels. 5W combines public relations, digital marketing, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and proprietary AI visibility research to help clients measure and grow their presence in AI-driven buyer research. Founded in 2003, 5W is recognized as a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's, named Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards®, honored as a 2026 Top Place to Work in Communications by Ragan, and named to Digiday's WorkLife Employer of the Year list. 5W serves clients across B2C sectors — Beauty & Fashion, Consumer Brands, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Travel & Hospitality, Technology, and Nonprofit — and B2B specialties including Corporate Communications, Reputation Management, Public Affairs, Crisis Communications, and Digital Marketing across Social, Influencer, Paid Media, GEO, and SEO. Learn more at 5wpr.com.

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SOURCE 5W Public Relations