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US gambling companies spent $520 million on celebrity and athlete partnerships in 2025, compared with $60 million on responsible gambling programs and communications.
The gap reached 8.7 to 1, according to the Responsible Gambling Communications Audit 2026 from 5W Research.
Good To Know
- Total US gambling marketing and advertising spending reached $3.9 billion.
- MGM Resorts received the highest responsible gambling communications score.
- 5W reviewed 30 sportsbook, online casino and land based casino operators.
MGM Leads Operator Ranking
5W assessed 47,000 media reports, company filings, regulator information and more than 2,400 AI search queries across a 24 month period.
MGM Resorts topped the Responsible Gaming Communications Index with 81 points out of 100. BetMGM Sportsbook followed with 78, while BetMGM Casino scored 74.
| Operator | Score |
| MGM Resorts | 81 |
| BetMGM Sportsbook | 78 |
| BetMGM Casino | 74 |
| DraftKings | 71 |
| FanDuel | 66 |
At the other end, Stake.us received 22 points. bet365 scored 29, Fanatics Sportsbook reached 34, ESPN Bet recorded 38 and Las Vegas Sands finished on 41.
ESPN Bet ended operations in 2025. Stake has also faced lawsuits tied to alleged unregulated gambling and ambassador activity.
“The gambling industry has built the most visible advertising ecosystem in American consumer marketing in five years,” 5W founder and Chairman Ronn Torossian said. “It has not built the credibility infrastructure to match it.”
The report compared gambling with other regulated industries that carry public health concerns. Alcohol recorded a 4 to 1 endorsement to responsibility ratio, while tobacco stood below 1.5 to 1. Pharmaceuticals sat close to 1 to 1 under FDA rules.
“The 8.7-to-1 ratio [of celebrity endorsements to responsible gaming messages] is no longer a marketing department metric. It is a capital markets metric … it is in MSCI [Morgan Stanley Capital International]. 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,” Torossian said.
5W called on operators to publish responsible gambling spending as a share of marketing budgets and create content that AI platforms can easily reference.
The company also recommended stronger executive participation outside crisis periods, earlier talks with regulators in pre legalisation states and a 3% to 5% reallocation of marketing budgets toward responsible gambling media.
At an industry level, that change would redirect between $117 million and $195 million.
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