Sky Bet launches ad campaign after Kane’s Ballon d’Or win
The Flutter Entertainment-owned bookmaker ran a digital-out-of-home campaign in London after Harry Kane was named Ballon d’Or winner, odds having installed him as favourite going into the ceremony.
Sky Bet moved quickly to mark Harry Kane's Ballon d'Or win with a marketing push across central London, deploying digital-out-of-home advertising in Leicester Square and Oxford Street once the England captain was confirmed as the award's recipient.
The campaign, titled 'Kane You Believe It?', celebrates Kane becoming the first English player to win the Ballon d'Or since Michael Owen in 2001. The Bayern Munich forward saw off competition from Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé and Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, who won the 2026 World Cup with Spain.
According to SBC News, odds on the Ballon d'Or winner shifted repeatedly in the build-up to the ceremony, with Kane at one stage sitting behind Yamal as second favourite. He went into the awards evening priced at 1/4, and ultimately took the trophy from Brazilian footballing figure Ronaldo Nazário.
Kane scored 73 goals for club and country during the 2025/26 season, a tally SBC News notes is second only to Lionel Messi's 82 in 2011/12. His former Tottenham Hotspur teammate Heung Min Son described the win as "deserved more than anyone".
The Ballon d'Or tribute extends Sky Bet's broader run of football-themed marketing. It sits within the operator's 'Game's Back' campaign, launched ahead of the 2026/27 domestic season and fronted by former Premier League winners turned pundits Roy Keane and Micah Richards.
Sky Bet's football-led advertising strategy also included 'The World's Gone Football', its campaign built around this year's World Cup. The bookmaker holds the headline sponsorship of the English Football League, underlining how closely its brand marketing is tied to the sport.
Stablemate Paddy Power, also owned by Flutter Entertainment, has built a similar reputation for football-focused advertising, reflecting a wider pattern among major UK operators of timing campaigns to coincide with high-profile sporting moments.