Stake has launched “This Summer, It’s All At Stake,” a global marketing campaign built around four former international footballers — Iker Casillas, Patrice Evra, Sergio Agüero and Eden Hazard — timed to coincide with the opening of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The campaign, distributed across YouTube, Instagram and X one week ahead of the tournament’s opening match, centres on a hero video placing each ambassador in an exaggerated football scenario. Casillas confronts a patron in a bar. Agüero assists a player on an amateur pitch. Hazard plays an overbearing coach in a dressing room. Evra tattoos a fan with his signature phrase, “I love this game.”
The four-man lineup spans different eras and markets: a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who captained Spain for over a decade, a Premier League and Champions League winner from France, the second-highest scorer in Argentina’s history, and a former Belgium captain. The combination is deliberate — Stake has been building its football ambassador roster since December 2025, when it first announced Casillas as its lead figure for the World Cup cycle.
“The World Cup is one of the few sporting events that really gets everyone’s attention no matter where you are around the globe. We aimed to bring to life the emotions, anticipation, and the excitement of this tournament. And what is even better, we managed to bring together some of the world’s most iconic soccer players.” — Jarrod Febbraio, Director, Stake
LatAm Expansion Runs in Parallel
The campaign launch coincides with two regulated market entries in Latin America. Stake announced it will operate in the Province of Buenos Aires under a licence granted by the Provincial Institute of Lotteries and Casinos (IPLyC), offering sports betting and online casino products through mobile-optimised software.
The Mexico entry runs under the permit-based scheme managed by SEGOB (Secretariat of the Interior), with Stake acting as an agent under Uno Capali’s licence agreement. Diana Otalora, General Director of Stake for Latin America, cited Argentina’s sports culture and population scale as the primary rationale for the Buenos Aires launch.
“Latin America has always been one of our top priorities, so we consider this market quite strategic for us. Argentina has an incredible sports culture, a huge and active population, as well as huge potential in the future.” — Diana Otalora, General Director LatAm, Stake
Mexico’s co-hosting role in the 2026 World Cup alongside the US and Canada formed part of the strategic case for the market entry. Stake already operates in Peru and Colombia, making Argentina and Mexico the next additions to a LatAm footprint built incrementally around regulated licensing frameworks. Eden Hazard had been signed as Stake’s World Cup ambassador specifically for that market push, with his deal announced in March 2026.
Football Strategy Began in December
Casillas’s appointment as global ambassador in December 2025 formally opened Stake’s World Cup activation period. At the time, Stake CMO Akhil Sarin described the signing as a “definitive statement of intent,” with Casillas’s role extending beyond the campaign video to match analysis, behind-the-scenes content, and fan experiences across the tournament. The broader ambassador group — Casillas, Evra, Agüero and Hazard — now forms the face of the brand for the duration of the tournament.
Stake has previously held shirt sponsorship deals with Watford and Everton, and last year the brand’s CMO Akhil Sarin outlined the company’s approach to viral marketing in a detailed interview covering its expansion into regulated markets. The World Cup campaign represents the largest single coordinated brand activation in the company’s history to date.
“Whether you’re watching the match from the stadium, your living room or a gathering with friends, our new campaign reminds the fans that there is nothing more important than this.” — Jarrod Febbraio, Director, Stake
The 2026 FIFA World Cup runs across the United States, Canada and Mexico from June through July, with the final scheduled for 19 July. With 48 teams competing across 104 matches, it is the largest edition of the tournament in the event’s history — a scale that operators across the industry have identified as the primary sportsbook acquisition window of the year. Stake’s parallel move into two co-host markets ahead of kickoff aligns the brand campaign directly with the regulated commercial opportunity the tournament presents in Latin America.
For further context on Stake’s regulated market strategy, see how SoftSwiss helped Stake scale from 15 games to $4.7bn GGR and the broader industry trend of operators pivoting to fully regulated markets.
Source: SBC Noticias
