Ahead of SBC Summit 2026 in Lisbon, Ben Holmes, Growth Director at the AI-native app advertising platform Moloco, is pressing iGaming operators to change how they buy media around major sporting events. His argument is direct: registration volume tells you almost nothing, and the operators who win are those who can prove where the budget actually went. The advice targets sportsbook, fantasy-sports and prediction-market advertisers competing for the same players inside narrow, high-intensity windows.
Why This Guidance Matters for Acquisition Teams
Major events compress a year’s worth of demand into hours. That compression rewards precision and punishes crude bidding. The strategic point Holmes makes is that these moments are less a spending opportunity than a data-gathering one.
- Optimise deeper in the funnel: Steering toward first-time deposits or repeat wagering, rather than sign-ups, changes which players a campaign actually attracts.
- Paying more upfront can be the smarter call when the player’s long-term economics justify it.
- Treat events as measurement labs: A concentrated spike reveals which early behaviours predict 30-day retention and revenue.
- Build controls before kickoff, not after: Budget ceilings, eligible markets and compliance boundaries need to exist before demand surges.
- The real return sits in the next campaign, not the current scoreboard.
What High-Value Players Actually Signal
Events generate behavioural signals in bulk: registration, first-session depth, first deposit, bet type, stake size, whether a player comes back on day two. The task is separating noise from prediction. Operators, Holmes argues, should identify which of those signals forecast downstream value, then optimise against that outcome rather than a headcount of registrations.
An AI system chases the objective it is handed. So the objective has to be defined before launch. On Moloco Ads, that can mean optimising toward ROAS or a meaningful in-app event such as a first-time deposit, provided data quality and conversion volume support it. The operator keeps the decision that matters: what counts as a valuable player.
And the economics can be counterintuitive. A player who costs more to acquire during a final may still outperform a cheap registration that never funds an account. Lowest acquisition cost is not the goal. Knowing which acquisitions last is.
Reacting in Real Time Without Losing Control
The numbers Moloco cites make the case for speed. Among leading sportsbook, fantasy-sports and prediction-market advertisers using the platform to reach US iOS users, first-time-deposit volume in the hour before Super Bowl LX kickoff rose 120x against the 2025 hourly average, while cost per first-time deposit fell 70%.
| Metric | Super Bowl LX (US iOS, pre-kickoff hour) |
|---|---|
| First-time-deposit volume | 120x higher than 2025 hourly average |
| Cost per first-time deposit | 70% lower than baseline |
| Attribution basis | Moloco-attributed events only, indexed to 2025 hourly averages |
Demand does not climb in a clean line. Interest can jump before a match, drift through the day, then collapse once the result is known. Not every spike deserves more money.
The discipline is defining, in advance, the outcome that signals success, the windows that justify extra spend, and the point at which budgets revert to normal. Within those boundaries, Moloco’s system adjusts bids and pacing as conditions shift, while dynamic creative keeps messaging aligned with changing odds, matchups or jackpot figures. Operators set the guardrails; the AI moves inside them.
Transparency Belongs in the Plan, Not the Post-Mortem
Performance reporting and placement transparency often get filed as separate concerns. For iGaming, they answer the same question: can this campaign scale with confidence? Marketers need to know where ads ran, which publishers and placements produced deposits, and how spend was distributed.
That reporting carries extra weight in a regulated vertical. It lets marketing, compliance and safer-gambling teams check whether placements match the operator’s brand and regulatory obligations before any budget expands. Publisher-level reporting gives visibility after delivery; geographic targeting and curated allow-lists add controls where restrictions apply. The point is not to maintain endless manual lists, but to verify where spend ran and to agree beforehand who reviews an exception (say, a publisher delivering unusual volume at a suspiciously low cost per deposit).
Fanatics Betting and Gaming used publisher-level reporting to confirm inventory met its quality and brand-safety standards. That visibility, the company says, gave it the confidence to widen its footprint into additional US states.
“That level of transparency gave us the confidence to expand our relationship with Moloco and launch campaigns in more states,” said Blair Hilton, Director of Performance Marketing at Fanatics Betting and Gaming.
These capabilities support an operator’s compliance processes. They do not replace them.
Turning a Demand Spike Into a Repeatable Advantage
A major event should not be judged solely on what happened during it. Its lasting worth is what it teaches. A structured post-event review, Holmes suggests, should press on four points:
- Which early behaviours predicted longer-term value most reliably?
- Which budget changes actually moved performance?
- Which audiences are worth re-engaging once the event passes?
- Which measurement or control gaps need closing before the next one?
Used well, a short-lived surge becomes a compounding edge. Used poorly, it becomes an expensive lesson nobody wrote down.
The Conversation Continues at SBC Summit 2026
The industry convenes at SBC Summit 2026 in Lisbon from 29 September to 1 October, with a programme covering AI, digital marketing, player protection and player experience. Those themes converge on one practical test: can operators use AI to chase higher-value growth, react while demand is concentrated, and hold the visibility needed to scale responsibly? Moloco’s iGaming team will be at Booth F641 to work through what to optimise toward, when to react, and what evidence teams need before they scale.
FAQ
Why is registration volume a weak measure of acquisition success?
Because a sign-up that never funds an account contributes nothing to revenue. Optimising toward deposits or repeat wagering ties spend to players who actually generate value, even when their upfront cost runs higher.
What did Moloco report for Super Bowl LX?
Among leading advertisers reaching US iOS users, first-time-deposit volume in the pre-kickoff hour was 120x the 2025 hourly average, with cost per first-time deposit down 70%. The figures cover Moloco-attributed events only.
How does placement transparency help compliance teams?
Publisher-level reporting shows where ads appeared and which placements drove deposits, letting compliance and safer-gambling teams confirm alignment with brand and regulatory requirements before spend scales.
Where can operators meet Moloco at SBC Summit 2026?
At Booth F641 in Lisbon, between 29 September and 1 October.
