Are Celebrity Endorsements Helpful for Online Gambling or Not?

by James Gibson, 8 October 2025

Many celebrities have a huge amount of influence. Some of them actively endorse a range of things, including online gambling. Would you turn to a celebrity for help with gambling online or not? Are endorsements made by famous people not really worth taking notice of?

Discussing the value of celebrity gambling endorsements. © tomekwalecki, Pixabay

Celebrity Endorsements

Celebrities have been a key part of major advertising campaigns in many industries for decades. The reason for this is simple: celebrities are meant to have influence and can actively or even passively persuade people to buy things.

There’s pretty much no limit to what celebrities can advertise. It could be something creative they’re involved in, such as a film or album; it could even be an everyday household product or service.

Like many others, the online gambling industry has used celebrities to promote sites and games. Various famous faces of varying levels of fame have promoted online gambling to the masses over the years.

But are celebrity endorsements for online gambling helpful in any way? Do they genuinely benefit the people who follow them? Or are they just a matter of all hype and no substance?

How Online Gambling Celebrity Endorsements Can Be Helpful

When it comes to online gambling, you don’t just want to encourage someone to sign up at a casino. You want them to become a regular customer. Casinos are businesses that need loyal players so they can keep making money.

If a celebrity endorses an online casino, the site can benefit greatly by gaining new customers and hopefully more long-term players. The bigger the celebrity and the greater their reach, the more new people they can draw to the casino.

But do players actually benefit? Some people might, of course. When a celebrity endorses a casino site, for example, some will undoubtedly sign up and benefit from the experience. They enjoy being a member and playing games.

For a celebrity endorsement to be successful, it’s got to persuade as many people as possible to not only join a site, but to stick with it long-term. This is why it’s important to choose the right celebrity.

If someone with a family-friendly brand endorses a casino, the endorsement won’t be that effective. This is because a lot of the celebrity’s fan base aren’t the type of people who would gamble online.

The most successful celebrity endorsements are those where the famous person has a fan base that is likely to buy into whatever is being advertised. Online gambling advertisers therefore put effort into finding the right celebrities for endorsements.

Examples of Celebrity Endorsements

One of the biggest celebrity online gambling endorsements came when Conor McGregor, a mixed martial arts champion, partnered with Betfair, a sports betting site. McGregor had a substantial following, and many of his fans found Betfair appealing.

The two sides struck a deal in 2017. While McGregor was very well known for his sporting achievements, his personality and character helped the endorsement reach more people. It also aligned well with Betfair’s brand identity.

This helped the endorsement feel authentic and genuine, which only increased its success. As evidenced in the advertising material, McGregor and Betfair were a great fit for each other. People felt the endorsement was real.

Another point is that a celebrity endorser should attract new players but not encourage current ones to leave. If the wrong sort of person becomes the face of a gambling site, some people might feel alienated.

To give an example, in 2017 the actor David Schwimmer, best known for starring in Friends, became an endorser of 888poker. While he had a lot of fame at the time, he had no apparent connection to poker.

This was unlike McGregor, who had an obvious and extremely strong connection to the site he was promoting. Schwimmer’s campaign involved him being a novice to the poker scene. The idea was to make poker more approachable.

While the campaign encouraged some people to join 888Poker, it failed to strike a balance between the light-hearted, entertaining side of poker and the game’s more professional, serious side. Some top poker players felt the pairing wasn’t quite right.

Are Celebrity Online Gambling Endorsements Worth Buying Into?

Celebrity endorsements can benefit a gambling site and the people the endorsement reaches. For them to succeed, pairing the celebrity and the gambling brand needs to be as closely matched as possible.

Whenever any famous face partners with an online gambling brand, it’s going to attract attention and give the campaign a bit of a buzz. Hype can be good, but what gambling operators want is more than that.

They want long-term customers, which a celebrity isn’t necessarily guaranteed to bring to the table. Again, it’s a matter of finding someone well-known who fits the gambling brand seamlessly.

If you come across an ad where a celebrity is promoting online gambling, should you buy into it? Should you check out the site the famous person is promoting? Obviously, you should only do this if you’re okay with gambling.

There’s no point in doing something a celebrity promotes just for the sake of it. This is especially true for online gambling, which can become addictive and lead to problems if you don’t moderate yourself.

By all means, visit an online casino or sportsbook that a celebrity is endorsing if you think you’ll benefit from signing up. Remember that you must decide how to spend your money.