State-by-state, sports betting is becoming legal across the USA. But despite the multiple players jostling for market position, they are all saying the same thing. They are predictable, promotional, and generally not very memorable. There has not been a real leader—no one offering the people the sportsbook experience they deserve. Until now. Caesars, the legendary casino and entertainment brand, has entered the sportsbook world with an app worthy of its storied history and gilded present.

To launch this marvelous new sportsbook app and bring together Caesars world of sports and entertainment, we created a new Caesar character, played by JB Smoove. Like many Caesars before him, JB Caesar loves to put on a show for his people. His new app is like digital coliseum, full of games, gladiators, pyrotechnics, music, tigers and endless sports. Inspired by legends like James Brown and Mohammed Ali, partnered by comedy and sports personalities, JB Caesar, is the world’s first emperor MC, introducing the world to a whole new sportsbook experience.

The legalization of sports betting created a tidal wave of unimaginative promotional ads, which were annoying to watch and made consumers feel like they were being taken for a ride. Enter Caesars, a brand with a rich 50-year history of making customers feel like royalty, and an utterly unique promise for the sports-betting market: when you bet with us, we will treat you like a Caesar. But instead of falling into the trap of the past, we opted instead to leverage the brand’s uniquely Roman iconography to create something new and fresh: the over-the-top character of JB Caesar, who—like Caesars itself—wants nothing more that to reward his supporters. By letting JB work his magic, and treating this creative more like a TV show than a traditional campaign, Caesars Sportsbook set out to earn a place in culture.

The Caesars Sportsbook campaign launched both nationally across broadcast/digital/social and locally (in TV markets in legal sports betting states) beginning August 2, 2021 with the spot "Intro" to announce the arrival of the newly rebranded sportsbook app. "Sound the Bells", "We Are All Heroes" and "Carl Rewards" debuted in the following weeks and months, from August 14, 2021 to March 20, 2022 with a robust TV, digital and social media plan of roughly $200MM for that time period.

"Pilgrim’s Betting" ran from November 20 to 28th, 2021 for the Thanksgiving holiday in TV, online and social, and Song & Dance went live in TV, online and social on March 7, 2022 with the start of the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Thanksgiving and the beginning of March Madness are peak media surges with a heavy buy.

The series of spots ultimately catapulted unaided brand awareness for Caesars Sportsbook +1150% in legal sports betting markets. The overall creative drove positive sentiment from sports bettors, particularly in regards to the characters and talent featured in the spots as viewers followed the brand narrative throughout NFL season and the expansion of the Caesars Sportsbook world. Caesar and Cleopatra in particular have become the most recognizable brand characters or spokespeople in the category, and garner the most positive sentiment for characters or spokespeople amongst the category as well.