The igaming sector is facing a crossroads when it comes to marketing and advertising. More stringent regulation, rising costs and public backlashes are all making marketing in the sector a more challenging prospect, and CMOs are being forced to think of more creative strategies to entice users onto their platforms.
But what if there was another way to engage with users, increase player loyalty and drive new revenue streams?
What is retail media?
Retail media may not be so familiar in the igaming sector, but in other industries, it is big business. Big business indeed. Latest figures from WARC suggest the channel was set to reach $174.9 billion in 2025 and is projected to surpass $200 billion by 2027 – that equates to a 13.7% increase year-on-year. It is expected to rise by 12.4% in 2026 to reach $196.7 billion, representing 16% of all adspend.
For those not familiar, retail media is a form of advertising that takes place within a retailer’s digital and physical ecosystem. These ads are placed at or near the point of purchase, whether on an e-commerce website, within a mobile app, or on in-store digital displays.
“It really started as a way for CPG (consumer packaged goods) companies to understand more about their customers, and from there, develop a product strategy,” says Reece Jones, managing director of strategic verticals: hospitality, gaming and cybersecurity, at LiveRamp. “Maybe one product was really popular with one group of people, and they want to get them in front of those people more.
“Retailers have lots of data. They know a lot about their customers, whether they’re buying a certain soda every week for example, or certain chips. They know it and they’re aware of it, especially if they are a loyal customer. If you look at the travel and hospitality space, they have lots of data and they understand their customers.”
It’s an absolutely massive opportunity for operators; it can be a huge profit centre
iGaming’s next opportunity?
So retail media benefits those companies with their own physical and digital platforms, with access to lots of customer data points. Does that sound familiar to you?
It is something that marketing experts are certain that igaming brands could have considerable success within the next few years.
“I think it’s an absolutely massive opportunity for operators; it can be a huge profit centre,” adds James Taylor, CEO of Particular Audience. “You think about the context that the users have when they interact with these platforms. It’s typically around a team or an event or a location. They really pique engagement with that sport or team so I think that there is this huge opportunity to build massive advertising businesses.”
Taylor uses the theoretical example of an igaming operator that has a front- of-shirt sponsorship with a football club. He theorised that an effective use of retail media in igaming could be that operator partnering with the club’s other partners such as an official trainingwear partner or official catering partner.
By synergising those brands, Taylor suggests, the operator can drive further engagement with the club’s fans, the advertisers can access highly engaged audiences, and fans are rewarded for their loyalty.
He explains: “Operators will send out emails to entice fans to place a bet and they can monetise banner space to brands who want to access highly engaged fans of the team they sponsor. The average sort of CPM is probably about £25 and if you can reach 100,000 people, that’s £2.5k per email. If operators can do that at scale to every team in the Premier League, they start to have quite a material ad business for zero marginal costs.”
Mohegan leads the pack
Jones and LiveRamp have experience working with a gaming operator to establish a casino media network through its work with Mohegan Gaming. Touted as an industry-first deal, LiveRamp works with the operator to allow brands access to Mohegan’s first-party data to reach guests and players as well as measure campaigns across the casino’s digital channels and on- premise experiences.
Jones says: “The big thing is getting the data to be one common view of a customer and enable it for whether it’s off-site to various ad platforms or you’re just directly partnering, and that’s where LiveRamp comes in. We can jump in and support that, and we have the expertise for that. It’s been a fun part of my remit in taking what worked really well in retail CPG, and bringing it into the casino gaming space.”
Breaking down LiveRamp and Mohegan’s deal reflects the vast swathe of real estate that operators have allowed them to connect brands and players. There is digital space within the app, with banners also available via email. But Mohegan also leverages its brick-and-mortar casinos too, offering media space on its digital boards and even on slot machines.
“Most slot machines today have a media window that’s largely reserved for in-house advertising, whether it’s for a loyalty programme, or an in-house restaurant.
“One of the things that casinos notice is when you insert your player card – which means you’re in the loyalty programme – you still would get loyalty ads on that media screen. Why would you still give them loyalty ads? They then switch that over to other advertising.”
Despite dropping the number of in-house ads, casinos are still reporting revenue increases, largely down to the efficacy of these retail media operations.
First-mover advantage?
Yet, the gaming sector on a whole is yet to embrace this in full. While LiveRamp has a roster of gaming clients, only one of which is public, Taylor and Particular Audience are reporting a level of hesitancy from operators to take up these opportunities.
“Some don’t have a person responsible for owned property advertising, KPIs for brand partnership or partnership income,” Taylor notes. “But I think there is a huge mindshift opportunity and the early adopters will pioneer the market, make a ton of margin, and they’ll get a massive advantage.”
Operators have access to so much data now, and there are plenty of new ways they can leverage that data with technology. Gamification and personalisation prove that operators have the power to use retail media if they want to, providing they work with the right suppliers.
