Rob Gronkowski, a former NFL player more commonly called “Gronk,” will be playing a new game from 6 to 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 16. The star of FanDuel Sportsbook‘s “Kick of Destiny” Super Bowl commercials will be joining New Jersey FanDuel Casino gamblers at the roulette table.
Gronk’s May 13 post on X about his plans to host online roulette invited video viewers to download the FanDuel Casino app. The way he presented the invitation about his upcoming appearance in the New Jersey online casino live dealer studio suggests that the online gambling operator expects new gamblers to play roulette with its brand ambassador.
If so, the New Jersey online casino bettors must be at least 21 and located within New Jersey’s border to participate in the May 16 event. The iGaming players must select the live dealer game within the app, where they’ll see a human running the roulette table in a TV studio. The former tight end-turned-failed-placekicker will be there, too.
Gronk Speaks
Gronk will soon take his place in front of the camera at the branded FanDuel Casino studio in New Jersey.
However, he first must alert his fans.
Gronk said in his May 13 post:
Any FanDuel Casino customer in New Jersey can join my table right from their phone with the FanDuel Casino app.
I’ll be reading and responding to your messages in real-time.
So come play roulette with me and let’s have some fun.
Chat with me while playing roulette LIVE on the @FanDuelCasino app!
📅 Thursday, May 16th
⏰ 6-7 pm
📍 NJ only pic.twitter.com/NPAQs7p1gb— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) May 13, 2024
FanDuel Casino, Gronk, and Roulette
Three hours after his May 13 announcement, Gronk’s X post had more than twice as many views as the FanDuel Casino account has followers.
At 4 p.m., X visitors viewed his video 45,300 times.
By 6 p.m. on May 13, the views reached nearly 50,000.
Meanwhile, the video remained atop the posts from his account, which has 3.1 million followers. It also topped FanDuel Casino’s posts, alerting the account’s 21,100 followers.
That volume of attention may be the reason FanDuel partners with celebrity influencers.
Although the app is live in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, as well as powering a site in Connecticut, there are Americans still unaware of legal online casino gambling.
Even fewer seem to understand the concept of live dealers despite online casinos offering the services of human croupiers for years now.
Indeed, the space’s dominant vendor — Evolution — still counts most of its business as occurring outside of the US.
Evolution (Evolution AB (publ) 3,50 -1,13%) will be powering FanDuel Casino’s branded studio while Gronk hosts on May 16.
So, Gronk will bring brand awareness to FanDuel Casino, Evolution, and iGaming, in general.
iGaming Is Bigger Than You Think
Regardless of follower counts, iGaming is far from a small industry.
While only eight states have legalized forms of iGaming, Bonus reported that US online casino states saw $6.5 billion in revenue in 2023.
BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel are the Big Three market share brands.
As FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment (Flutter Entertainment 25,40 +0,08%), wrote in its most recent annual report:
For the three months ended December 31, 2023, we had a 43.2% share of the online sports betting market in the states where FanDuel Sportsbook was live and a 25.7% share of the iGaming market in states where FanDuel Casino and PokerStars (US) were live.
Renewed Focus on Cross-Selling to Sports Bettors?
The former football player who will spin the roulette table on May 16 may bring a renewed interest in an inside baseball topic.
Gronk’s appearance raises the question of whether online gambling operators will again emphasize cross-selling online casino games to sports bettors. That was once the primary means of iGaming customer acquisition.
Since 2022, FanDuel leaders have been concentrating on appealing to women to broaden the demographics of its FanDuel Casino customer base. Marketing efforts appear to be working.
Flutter wrote in its 2023 annual report:
iGaming revenue for 2023 increased by 47.3%, driven by both player growth and higher levels of engagement. Our focus on a broadened product portfolio and investing in the FanDuel Casino brand to acquire direct casino players led to a 41.8% increase in AMPs to 624 thousand for fiscal 2023.
Will Gronk change that focus?
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