The CEO of Fanatics Betting says the Jenner Super Bowl ad exceeded all expectations
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The goal of any Super Bowl ad this week is to get consumers to take action after seeing their campaign instead of just watching.
At Fanatics Sportsbook, it’s been that way even before the game started after Kendall Jenner’s ad called the “Kardashian Kurse,” an internet joke that pits any basketball player who gets close to the world-famous sisters they’re under.
Fanatics Betting & Gaming CEO Matt King said the ad “exceeded our expectations,” and the digital sports giant is already seeing it pay dividends.
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Kendall Jenner with Fanatics Sportsbook commercial for 2026 Super Bowl. (Fanatics Sportsbook / Fox News)
“We’ve seen a huge increase in coverage, and we’re seeing that accelerate as we get closer to the game,” King said in a recent interview.
It was Jenner’s first ever Super Bowl ad, and it sparked conversation among football fans and casual viewers of the “Big Game”. Jenner even went on “The Tonight Show,” where she told Jimmy Fallon that she would back the New England Patriots with a $1 million bet.
If that wasn’t enough, one of her ex-boyfriends who was “touched” by the “Kardashian Kurse,” Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker, added to the campaign’s viral Instagram back-and-forth with Jenner.
KENDALL JENNER TURNS ‘KARDASHIAN KURSE’ INTO SUPER BOWL LX BETTING STRATEGY FOR FANATICS SPORTSBOOK
It’s been a dream campaign for the product, but King says it’s a tribute to everything Fanatics is trying to do with every aspect of its great games and culture.
“From day one, we were excited to work with an icon like Kendall Jenner and, obviously, in today’s world of marketing, doing something like the social environment and traditional media environment is a really unique opportunity, but that’s how you’re going to get the most impact,” he explained.
“Dropping it on social media and just seeing, frankly, the momentum and the life it went through was really amazing. The definition of viral. You’re not the first person to tell me that his wife or partner told me about this ad, which we love so much.
“So, it’s about creating great talent with great talent and taking it down a path that has taken on a life of its own.”
Fanatics Betting & Gaming CEO Matt King is excited to get another Super Bowl. (Fans / Fox News)
King added that most of the action so far has been on the Seattle Seahawks, which means the community at Fanatics Sportsbook is either over, or against, Jenner’s pick on the Patriots. However, that may change.
“It’s not even close to the start of the game, there’s a lot to take in,” said King.
The Super Bowl is one of the most watched sporting events in the world every year, and with the legalization of sports gambling, the average fan may try to place a bet. Whether it’s with or against Jenner, guessing the correct color of Gatorade poured on a winning coach or using Fanatics Markets, the company’s platform in the fast-growing speculation market space, King emphasized the availability of responsible gaming tools.
“Playing with responsibility is obviously important to us every day,” he said. “It’s something where we want to put our tools, like deposit limits, front and center for everyone. When you get a lot of new users in the area, the main part of what we call our early journey for all users is to educate them about the tools that are there. It will be the same on Super Bowl Sunday for all the new users to make them understand that the tools are there in our experience with us and let them set the limit.”
Fanatics Sportbook’s Super Bowl ad campaign on Super Bowl Sunday in Santa Clara caps off a successful NFL season for the brand, which continues to find creative ways to break into a highly competitive industry.
Kendall Jenner arrives on “The Tonight Show” Jan. 28, 2026. (Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“From our point of view, from the day we started this business, it was about how we built a market-leading proposition,” said King. “We want consumers to look at everything we offer together and say, “Fanatics is the best in the market.’
“We think that, this football season, we’ve really helped show that we’re the best in the market, whether it’s that FanCash up to 10% that you can get, Fair Play, the customer response to Fair Play has been really good. If you look at the social and the times it’s happening, it’s a real difference.
“Obviously, our biggest challenge is about awareness. So, our way of growing the business is how do we focus on raising awareness of all the things we can offer fans and make them see that there’s an alternative to the best market? A lot of our work – you can see it in the Super Bowl campaign – is how we build brand awareness.”
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