How to win in key moments and accelerate sportsbook growth

Sporting moments are the lifeblood of sportsbook businesses – high-frequency, high-emotion occasions when fans are truly engaged and ready to act. As excitement peaks, so does betting activity. Meta’s platforms are uniquely positioned to help brands capture these moments, with 96% of sports fans engaging before, during and after the action (source: Global Web Index, Q2 2025).

The home of sports fandom

Meta is the definitive home for sports fans, offering real-time connection at the height of intent and enthusiasm. With billions of interactions across Facebook and Instagram, brands have the opportunity to reach, engage and acquire sports fans more effectively than ever before.

The key numbers: (source: Global Web Index, Q2 2025)

• 96% of sports fans on Meta engage before, during and after live sports
• 64% identify as superfans, driving culture and engagement at scale
• 89% take action after seeing sports content on Meta; one in three click, follow or buy

Meta leads all platforms in fan trust and discovery globally. 60% of sports fans trust Meta for discovering new products and experiences, ahead of YouTube, TV or TikTok (source: Meta Consumer Sports Report, September 2025).

What does this mean for your brand? You’re not just running ads, you’re joining the conversation, becoming part of the culture and driving real outcomes.

Three key upcoming sporting opportunities to maximise acquisition

Meta offers sportsbook advertisers unparalleled access to fans during peak sporting moments. Here are the key opportunities to maximise your impact:

1) Super Bowl

Super Bowl LX will take place on the 8 February 2026. The Super Bowl is a major acquisition event at a global level, demonstrated by the ever-growing amount of regular season NFL fixtures now taking place across the world in locations including Mexico, Brazil, the UK, Germany and, most recently, Ireland. Activate campaigns that leverage real-time engagement and creative differentiation utilising the likes of Trending Reels and Meta Moment Maker to cement your brand’s affinity to the largest sporting moments (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025).

These events are huge opportunities for acquisition, engagement and cross-sell. With Meta, you’re not just reacting to the moment, you’re shaping it.

2) Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham takes place annually in March and is one of the largest real-money gaming (RMG) events in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). Brand investment grew more than 30% year on year during Cheltenham 2025, which played a large part in the overall growth in investment from RMG operators across the festival (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025). Leverage Meta’s unparalleled reach to target superfans and casuals before, during and after the festival. Cross-sell casino, virtuals and other sports, with the FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League all overlapping with the festival to drive maximum return on investment.

3) Champions League and Premier League football

Champions League and Premier League winter fixtures are catalysts for betting activity and brand engagement. Football content has been shared 2.3 billion times on Meta in 2025 to date (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025). Use Meta’s DPA and Catalog ads for timely messaging, as well as Partnership Ads to drive 19% lower acquisition costs and further social proof your brand across these tier-one football events (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025).

From pre-match to kicking off on Meta

Brand investment: the new strategic necessity

Brand investment is becoming critical for sportsbook and gaming operators. More than 40% of Cheltenham sports spend on Meta is now dedicated to brand investment, not just direct response campaigns (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025).

Why does this matter? Brand builds trust and long-term loyalty. Brand campaigns drive incremental value, lifting all performance metrics. Sports moments are brand moments, investing in brands during these events means becoming part of the excitement and fan experience.

What’s working on Meta:

• Video and reels: short-form, authentic content tied to live events
• Creator partnerships: influencers and sports personalities tell your brand story
• Always-on presence: build equity before, during and after the event

Winning operators balance direct response with memorable brand campaigns, especially around tentpole events.

Proving value with advanced measurement

Advertisers undervalue Meta by 31% on average (source: Meta Ads Manager performance studies, 2025). This represents a significant opportunity to improve measurement and attribution.

Meta’s real-time incrementality reporting in Ads Manager enables optimisation as events unfold, delivering up to 46% improvement in performance versus standard campaigns (source: Meta Ads Manager performance studies, 2025). Use real-time data to adjust spend, creative and targeting during live moments.

Building a suite of truth means moving beyond single-source attribution. Conversion Lift studies allow you to calibrate and validate attribution models while implementing lift studies during key events like Cheltenham can allow you to maximise your learnings.

Creative solutions for RMG constraints

RMG sports betting clients have the lowest reels adoption of any market, despite reels now accounting for around 50% of time spent on Instagram (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025). The challenge? Key sporting event offers tend to go live two to 12 hours before they start, leaving minimal time for video production.

The three rules for success:

1. Make it reel: authentic, not polished. Fans want real moments, not studio productions
2. Visual hooks: first three seconds are crucial for thumb-stopping
3. Sound on: 70% of users watch reels with sound (source: Meta Internal Data, Q3 2025); use music, commentary or crowd noise

This approach enables brands to be agile and authentic, even with tight deadlines. No big production budget needed, just a clear message and willingness to experiment.

Make key moments count

Your audience is already on Meta platforms. The question isn’t whether they’re there, it’s whether you’re ready to meet them at moments of peak intent and convert attention into action.

With Meta’s suite of tools, advanced measurement capabilities and deep understanding of sports fandom, sportsbook brands can transform the key sporting moments of 2026 into sustained business growth.

For more information on how Meta can support you to maximise the key sporting events of 2026, check out our webinar session here.

About Meta

Meta’s mission is to build the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible. Our technologies help people connect, find communities and grow businesses.