The Background
LiveScore Bet launched in 2022 as the betting division of the LiveScore Group, a brand with over 25 years of heritage in Ireland. The introduction of the betting app in November 2022 marked a significant step in the growth of the wider LiveScore Group. Spark Foundry knew to launch this in an already cluttered and competitive market would require a strong strategic plan.
For 2024/2025, there was two extremely ambitious stretch targets which would be measured through YouGov brand
tracking.
• Increase prompted awareness among weekly football bettors and among weekly racing bettorsby
• Increase consideration among weekly football bettors and among weekly racing bettors
Spark Foundry knew from current brand tracking that conversion through the funnel was strong, but they were no longer filling the funnel. The gambling sector is one of the most regulated, with strict rules around advertising on mass media channels such as TV, BVOD. Furthermore, every major competitor was chasing the same audience at the same key moments. The challenge was not only reaching their audience effectively but doing so ahead of competitors while complying with stringent
advertising regulations.
This campaign was shortlisted in the Best TV Strategy category at the 2025 TAMI Awards
The Challenge
To overcome these above challenges, Spark Foundry developed a strategy that would allow them to break through a highly competitive and
restrictive market while ensuring they maximized every euro spent. They knew they needed to be strategic, agile, and ruthless in their approach.
A video-first strategy was the most effective route to achieve their goals. Attention studies (Lumen) and research from ThinkBox confirmed that high-attention video environments would drive the strongest impact. Given their objectives and the highly regulated space in which they were operating, a traditional performance marketing approach would not suffice. They had to take a bold step towards an AV-led plan, shifting focus from short-term digital efficiency to long-term brand building that
would drive business growth.
Live sport was the heartland of their audience’s media consumption, making it the cornerstone of the strategy. Football led the way, followed by racing, golf, darts, and NFL—sports that not only attracted their audience but also generated the highest betting revenues for LiveScore Bet. However, accessing these premium environments posed a significant challenge. Gambling ads are subject to a post-9pm watershed, with live sport being the only exception, provided ads comply with whistle-to-whistle restrictions. This meant every competitor was fighting for the same limited inventory, driving up costs and reducing availability. Acting quickly and decisively was essential to secure this advertising space.
Beyond live sport, the Live Score audience was also highly engaged with entertainment content on BVOD and YouTube. The team faced a similar challenger here where competitors were focusing their budgets and activity at the same time making it difficult to secure meaningful reach. To combat this, Spark Foundry needed to move fast and outsmart the competition to lock in inventory before others and ensure a consistent presence across multiple touchpoints.
Maintaining a strong Share of Voice (SOV) was another key element of the strategy. Given the competitive nature of the market, Spark understood that simply having a presence was not enough—they needed to ensure their investment was sufficient to cut through. Using Nielsen data to track competitor spend, they set clear investment levels to ensure a minimum 10% SOV per month across AV. This represents a significant increase from previous years. This required a shift in approach, moving
from a digital-first model to an AV-led plan, increasing AV investment from 18% in 2023/2024 to 55% in 2024/2025.
The Strategy
Relentless Pursuit of Live Sport:
The priority was securing premium live sports inventory ahead of competitors. A season-long sportsbook package built in collaboration with Sky Sports ensured consistent weekly presence across major football events, including the Premier League, EFL, Carabao Cup, and Gillette Soccer Saturday. This also included access to Turbo half time break slots in headline Premier League games which is a bespoke placement for Core clients. Additional inventory was locked in around high-value seasonal events such as The Masters, Super Bowl, and World Darts Final. RTE’s Champions League coverage was identified as a high-reach, cost-effective opportunity. By acting early, Live Score secured inventory before competitors, allowing only one other brand access while blocking out the rest. This gave a significant
advantage in reaching football fans at key moments. Rugby, while not a core betting sport, presented a strong opportunity for incremental reach. With Irish Rugby matches
ranking among the top-viewed programmes, the team secured strategic placements in Virgin Media’s Autumn Internationals coverage, ensuring exposure during some of the most-watched sporting events of the year. Given the limited horse racing coverage in Ireland, an annual deal was secured with Virgin Media through a blind-bid process, ensuring consistent presence across major racing events, including Cheltenham and the Grand National. This was crucial as horse racing is LiveScore Bet’s second-largest revenue driver, making this investment highly valuable.
Always-On Video Strategy:
Beyond live sport, an always-on video strategy was implemented to reinforce awareness and consideration outside peak sporting moments. A post-9pm Broadcaster VOD plan was deployed across Virgin Media, RTE, and Sky, ensuring continuous high-quality exposure. YouTube played a critical role as a non-watershed platform, allowing pre-9pm targeting of sports and entertainment content to extend reach across the day. BVOD and YouTube investments where carefully phased to align with
major sporting events, ensuring a steady stream of engagement.
The Results
The success of our approach was evident in our campaign performance from August 2024 – with significant growth across all key metrics.
• Prompted Awareness:
o Weekly football bettors Increased by a 6 PP lift.
o Weekly racing bettors increased by a 4 PP lift.
• Consideration:
o Weekly football bettors Increased by a 5 PP lift.
o Weekly racing bettors increased by a 4 PP lift.
• Ad Recall: Increased by a 4 PP lift.
“Launching our new brand platform was both exciting and daunting. With a flat media budget, shifting our investment
toward TV was a major decision that left us open to scrutiny. However, Core’s deep understanding of the Irish market—an
area where we have limited oversight from our UK base—ensured this campaign was a success. It delivered tangible results
that resonated across both marketing and commercial stakeholders, validating the strategic shift.”
Colin Rickman,Director of Brand Marketing, LiveScore Group
Credits
Brand:
LiveScore Bet
Media Agency:
Spark Foundry, Part of Core
Award:
Shortlist the Best TV Strategy category at the 2025 TAMI Awards