Sports prediction and fantasy platform Underdog is launching a national brand campaign featuring actor Paul Walter Hauser as “The Dog,” expanding its media strategy across broadcast, streaming, CTV, programmatic, audio, social and out-of-home channels ahead of football season.
The campaign represents Underdog’s first major creative initiative with independent agency Curiosity, which was appointed the company’s creative and media agency of record in June. Eden Collective and 23 Below are partnering on media activities.
For the AdTech ecosystem, the notable element is the campaign’s cross-channel media architecture. Rather than concentrating the launch around traditional television, Underdog is distributing creative across CTV, YouTube, social, audio, OOH and programmatic inventory, giving the brand multiple opportunities to reach sports audiences across linear and digital environments.
From TV Creative to Multi-Channel Activation
The campaign includes six hero advertisements directed by Jody Hill, alongside a short-form video series titled “Own the Wait.” The latter is designed specifically for commercial breaks while fans are checking live picks, connecting the advertising experience with the real-time context of sports viewing.
That contextual approach is increasingly important for sports advertisers competing across fragmented viewing environments.
CTV and streaming provide brands with television-style reach while adding digital targeting and measurement capabilities. Programmatic buying can further extend campaigns beyond premium video placements into broader digital inventory.
Underdog’s plan also includes creator partnerships and experiential activations around major sports moments, creating a campaign structure that extends from paid media into owned, earned and participatory channels.
Market Landscape
Sports advertising is undergoing a structural shift as audiences divide their viewing time among linear television, connected TV, social platforms, streaming services and mobile experiences.
For advertisers, the challenge is no longer simply reaching sports fans. It is coordinating frequency, audience signals, creative formats and measurement across environments that operate with different identifiers and reporting standards.
Underdog’s strategy illustrates how sports brands are increasingly treating CTV and programmatic as complementary components of a broader media system, rather than separate channels.
The “Own the Wait” concept is particularly relevant to this shift. Instead of treating commercial breaks as dead time, the campaign attempts to use a moment when consumers are actively monitoring sports-related activity on another screen.
That second-screen behavior creates opportunities for advertisers to align creative timing with live sports engagement, although proving incremental impact across channels remains a significant measurement challenge.
Strategic Outlook
Underdog is also linking the campaign to product expansion. The company recently launched a federally licensed prediction market exchange, wholly owned and operated by Underdog and licensed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The convergence of product innovation and advertising gives the campaign a broader role than brand awareness alone. As prediction markets expand into sports, culture and other areas, Underdog will need to educate consumers while differentiating its product in an increasingly competitive market.
The company’s planned acquisition by IG Group Holdings adds another strategic dimension. IG Group has agreed to acquire Underdog, while the company is expected to continue operating as a commercially standalone business with its own brand, management and operating platform.
For AdTech vendors and media buyers, Underdog’s campaign reflects a wider trend: sports-focused marketers are increasingly building full-funnel, cross-screen media strategies in which CTV, programmatic, creators and real-time digital experiences work together.
The harder problem will be measurement. As campaigns spread across screens and channels, marketers need reliable methods for determining whether incremental reach translates into app engagement, customer acquisition and long-term value.
Top Insights
- CTV and programmatic converge: Underdog is combining television, streaming and programmatic inventory in one national campaign.
- Context-driven creative: “Own the Wait” targets commercial-break moments when fans are actively checking live picks.
- Cross-channel execution: Broadcast, CTV, social, audio, OOH, YouTube and programmatic extend the campaign across multiple environments.
- Product and media alignment: Prediction-market expansion gives the brand campaign a direct connection to product innovation.
- Measurement remains critical: Cross-screen reach creates opportunities but also makes attribution and incremental measurement more complex.
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