Sports Campaigns That Perform: 2025 Calendar [+ Smart Strategies]
Another sports season is around the corner — and it’s packed.
From March through August 2025, we’re looking at a stacked lineup of major tournaments that are set to dominate screens, headlines, and traffic charts.
Think Champions League. Cricket World Cup. EuroBasket. UFC fight nights. Whether global or regional, these events pull in millions of engaged users, all fired up and ready to click.
It’s a pattern we see every year: when the games kick off, performance follows. We’re talking real traffic spikes, stronger CTRs, and sharper conversions across multiple verticals.
For advertisers, it’s go time.
Those who plan early and sync campaigns with the right match days tend to launch faster, scale smarter, and drive better results — all without burning budget.
Why Sports Events Matter to Advertisers
When it comes to user engagement, few moments can compete with major sports events.
Match days drive massive traffic surges, turning user attention into more clicks, more engagement, and better results across verticals.
Why? Because sports unlock emotional intensity that turns fans into high-intent users. They’re more alert, more reactive, and far more likely to engage with time-sensitive offers — whether it’s grabbing a last-minute deal, claiming a bonus, or jumping into a challenge. That emotional momentum drives real campaign performance.
Take the iGaming push traffic during Euro 2024 and the Copa America, for example. With campaigns synced to match calendars and powered by Auto Creatives, advertisers saw sharp lifts in CTR and CR — all thanks to smart timing and automated creative rotation.
But iGaming isn’t the only vertical seeing the lift.
According to our Senior Account Strategist, Sotos Charalambous, the spike in traffic during sports season extends beyond sports-related brands. “Due to the increased volume, verticals like utilities (VPNs), mobile content, and eCommerce see strong lifts too — not just iGaming”.
The key here is launching smart, scaling fast, and adapting creatives to the moment.
In other words: if your campaigns are ready when users are most active, you won’t just capture attention — you’ll convert it.
What’s on the Sports Calendar 2025 – top 10
This season’s packed schedule offers some of the strongest traffic opportunities we’ve seen all year — here are the top events that should be on your radar. Save this calendar for your convenience:
Top Performing Formats and Verticals
From 2018 to 2022, sports campaigns leaned heavily on formats like Push and Interstitials — delivering fast reach, solid CTRs, and scalable results. That foundation still works, but the landscape has evolved.
Classic Push and Popunder still dominate, but newer formats like In-Page Push and Social traffic show growing promise — especially when paired with Auto Creatives and event-based targeting.
These formats are built for fast attention and flexible engagement, making them ideal for fast-paced sports moments.
And it’s not just about formats. Vertical performance has shifted too.
While iGaming remains the obvious fit, sports traffic casts a much wider net — driving measurable uplifts for utilities (VPNs), eCommerce, Social, and Finance offers. High-pressure moments like knockout games or finals increase urgency, which translates into more form fills, purchases, signups, and conversions — even outside the sports niche.
GEOs That Show Potential
During recent sports seasons, advertisers who looked beyond the usual Tier 1 markets saw standout results. Whether it was matchday Push campaigns or event-focused offers, engagement rates, conversions, and traffic volume outperformed expectations across several non-obvious GEOs.
Based on internal campaign data, countries like Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, and India emerged as top performers during major tournaments. From Copa America to UFC fight nights and the Cricket World Cup, these GEOs delivered serious traffic surges — not just for iGaming, but across multiple verticals.
Our Senior Account Strategist puts it clearly:
“Brazil is a huge market with national tournaments and strong local brands. In Africa, South Africa leads, but Egypt, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia are all gaining momentum. Asia remains a top-spending region, with strong brand presence in countries like India, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the Philippines” — and real results when activated at the right time.
The key takeaway? GEO targeting isn’t just about where the event happens — it’s about where the attention is. Global tournaments bring global traffic, and advertisers who align their targeting accordingly are the ones scaling fastest.
Pro Tips for Planning Your Campaign
We’ve looked at the traffic. We’ve seen the formats. Now let’s talk strategy — how to actually plan your campaigns around sports events for maximum impact.
Here are the top tactics we recommend — including insights from Sotos — to help you launch smarter and scale faster.
1. Choose the Right Offer for the Right GEO
Before you even launch, make sure your offer fits the market you’re targeting. Sports audiences behave differently across regions — and so do conversion patterns. What works in Brazil might not perform in the CIS countries.
“Choosing the right iGaming brand for the right GEO is the most important step. Advertisers should collect information from both the brand and the traffic provider.”
— Senior Account Strategist
2. Run Classic Push Campaigns (with Interests Targeting and without)
Classic Push is a top performer — but how you set it up can unlock a wider, more diverse audience.
As our Senior Account Strategist points out:
“Many advertisers only create Classic Push campaigns using Interests Targeting feature — but it’s important to also run campaigns without any targeting selected. That unlocks an entirely different traffic pool.”
Running both types side by side gives you broader reach and a chance to compare performance. Sometimes, untargeted campaigns surprise you, so test both approaches!
3. Build Creatives Around the Match
Want higher CTRs? Match your message to the moment.
Sotos recommends keeping 3–5 Push creatives live per campaign — and tailoring them to the upcoming matches. Think:
“Barcelona vs Real: Support Your Favorite Team Now!” or “Ready for England’s big game tonight?”
Use bold CTAs, add emojis like 🔥 or 💰 to boost visibility, and always customize button text or Push Badges where possible. These quick adjustments keep your ads timely, clickable, and in sync with user excitement.
4. Test Landing Pages Early
Don’t wait until the campaign is live to figure out what works. Start testing your landing pages early — and approach it with an A/B mindset from day one.
Begin with the “Homepage” and “Bonus” flows. Once you have data, move on to test the “Registration Page”. This gradual approach helps you optimize without losing momentum.
5. Use Auto Creatives to Scale Efficiently
During fast-moving sports seasons, speed matters. Auto Creatives help you launch quicker, rotate creatives automatically, and stay relevant — without burning time on manual updates.
They’re especially useful during knockout rounds and match-packed weekends, when user attention shifts fast and fresh creatives make all the difference.
6. Time Your Launch Right
Getting the timing right can make a big difference. Launch too soon, and users lose interest. Too late, and you’ve already missed the hype.
The sweet spot? Start a few days before the event to pre-warm your audience — but keep your messaging dynamic and updated as the match approaches.
Short-term bursts work well for finals or knockout stages, while longer campaigns perform better for tournaments with multiple matchdays.
It’s all about matching your pacing to the event. Keep your timing tight, your message fresh, and let the results roll in.
To Sum Up
With back-to-back tournaments ahead, this season is shaping up to be a prime one for performance.
Whether you’re running iGaming, Utilities, eCommerce, or beyond, the campaigns that perform best are the ones built around clear goals and smart strategy.
So what’s next?
Start aligning your offers, testing creatives, and synching your campaigns with the match schedule.
With clear timing, tailored targeting, and automation tools like Auto Creatives, you’ll be well positioned to make the most of this season’s momentum.
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