I have been in public relations for more than two decades. I have watched brands in almost every industry make the same mistake: spend on channels that generate reach, almost nothing on channels that generate trust. Confuse awareness with credibility. Treat PR as a support function rather than a strategic investment.

The U.S. gambling industry is doing this more aggressively than almost any category I have observed. 5W published the data to prove it.

The Gaming Trust Index 2026 is 5W's first annual study of marketing spend allocation and brand credibility outcomes across the top U.S. sports betting, online gaming, and land-based casino operators.

$3.9 Billion. Less Than 4% on Earned Media.

Total industry marketing spend in 2025: $3.9 billion. Television: $1.42 billion. Celebrity partnerships: $520 million. Responsible gambling programs: $60 million. Earned media and PR: $90 million.

2.3% of total spend going to the channel with the highest documented return on brand credibility. More than five times as much on celebrity deals as on responsible gambling communications and PR combined.

Television has value. Reach matters in newly legal markets. But the U.S. sports betting market is not newly legal — 38 states, five years of market-building. At this stage, the competition is credibility, retention, and regulatory goodwill. Those require different investments.

The Celebrity Ratio Is a Liability

$520 million on celebrity deals. $60 million on responsible gambling. Nearly 9-to-1.

Celebrity endorsement is borrowed trust. It belongs to the celebrity, not the operator. When the campaign ends, the borrowed credibility leaves with it.

That ratio is visible to every state regulator evaluating a legalization bill, every ESG analyst covering publicly traded operators, every legislator in California, Texas, and Florida. It is not a comfortable number to defend. The capital markets analysis — ESG, regulatory, and AI engine implications — is in The 8.7-to-1 Problem.

The Land-Based Casino Blind Spot

The finding I think has been most overlooked: land-based casino. MGM, Caesars, Wynn, Hard Rock — among the most recognized brands in American consumer culture. Millions of monthly branded searches.

Almost none of those search results contain operator-controlled content. Review sites. Financial reporting. Regulatory news. When someone searches a major casino brand, the story is written by everyone except the operator.

This matters because of how AI search works. When an AI tool synthesizes information about a casino brand, it draws from whatever content ranks. Operators not building owned and earned content are ceding their narrative daily. The Sports Betting & Gaming AI Visibility Index quantifies the gap — top five operators capture 92%+ of Citation Share. The communications infrastructure that closes that gap is what gambling PR looks like in 2026.

The Online Gaming Window

iCasino and iPoker generated $12.8 billion in revenue in 2025 across seven legal states. New York, Illinois, Indiana, and Virginia are in active legislative consideration. The operators building earned media presence now will have a structural advantage advertising cannot replicate at launch.

Michigan's 2021 launch proved it — operators with pre-existing earned media achieved faster initial user acquisition. The Gaming & Gambling Earned Media Playbook maps the 90-day implementation plan for pre-legalization states.

What Should Change

Move 3–5 percentage points from low-credibility-return channels to high-credibility-return channels. Build earned media infrastructure. Invest in executive visibility. Treat responsible gambling as a brand pillar, not a compliance checkbox. Build digital content that shapes what AI engines say about your brand. Everything-PR maps the new gambling marketing stack — the channel mix operators should be running instead of the one they inherited.

At $3.9 billion in total spend, that reallocation is $120 to $200 million. Not radical. A business decision.

The full Gaming Trust Index 2026 is available at 5wpr.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the U.S. gambling industry spend on marketing — and how much goes to earned media?

$3.9 billion total in 2025. Television took $1.42 billion. Celebrity partnerships took $520 million. Earned media and PR — the channel with the highest documented return on brand credibility — received $90 million. That is 2.3% of total spend. The 5W Gaming Trust Index 2026 documents the full allocation breakdown.

Why is the celebrity-to-responsible-gambling spend ratio a problem?

The industry spent $520 million on celebrity endorsements and $60 million on responsible gambling — nearly 9-to-1. Celebrity endorsement is borrowed trust. It leaves when the campaign ends. That ratio is visible to state regulators, ESG analysts, and legislators in expansion states like California, Texas, and Florida. It is a capital markets liability, not just a marketing inefficiency.

What is the land-based casino blind spot in AI search?

MGM, Caesars, Wynn, and Hard Rock generate millions of monthly branded searches — but almost none of those results contain operator-controlled content. When AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini synthesize brand information, they draw from whatever ranks. Operators without earned and owned content are ceding their narrative to review sites, financial news, and regulatory coverage every day.

What should gambling operators change about their marketing budget?

Move 3–5 percentage points from low-credibility-return channels to high-credibility-return channels. That means $120 to $200 million redirected toward earned media infrastructure, executive visibility, responsible gambling as a brand pillar, and digital content built for AI retrieval. 5W's casino PR practice builds that infrastructure. Not radical. A business decision.

Who is Ronn Torossian?

Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of 5W AI Communications, the AI Communications Firm. He is the publisher of Everything-PR and the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release. 5W is recognized as a Top U.S. PR Agency by O'Dwyer's and named Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards®.

Related

Ronn Torossian is the founder and chairman of 5W AI Communications, the AI Communications Firm. He is the publisher of Everything-PR and the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release.