Fractional CMO for Gaming Startups
Go-to-market and growth leadership for sportsbooks, prediction markets, mobile games, and esports, from the leader who launched Florida's first legal online sportsbook and helped grow Twitch beyond gaming.
Book a Call →Built for Launch Windows
Field Vision provides fractional CMO leadership and go-to-market strategy to gaming companies: sportsbooks and sports betting operators, prediction markets, mobile and casual games, and video game and esports startups. The firm is led by David Hampian, who built Hard Rock Bet from brand inception through six state launches, including the first legal online sportsbook in Florida, exceeding acquisition forecasts by 232% and delivering ARPU 17% above target against billion-dollar incumbents. At Twitch he built the integrated marketing function that took the platform from gaming into music and sports. David is quoted on prediction markets and engagement-driven design in Quartz and on sports betting geolocation in Ball Is Life. Using the proprietary ABCT® framework, Field Vision helps seed-to-Series D gaming companies win their launch, keep players past the first bet or first session, and transfer the playbook to their team through go-to-market strategy and fractional CMO leadership.
Where We've Done It
Gaming growth is won in compressed launch windows and kept in the first few days after sign-up. Field Vision's leadership has launched a regulated sportsbook state by state and grown one of the world's largest live gaming platforms.
Hard Rock Bet
Built the brand and launched across six states, +232% vs. acquisition forecast.
Read case study →Gaming Runs on Launch Windows and Second Sessions
Sportsbooks, prediction markets, and games share one shape: a short window where attention and acquisition costs peak, then a few days where players either form a habit or leave. Regulation adds state-by-state rules, platform limits, and scrutiny on every ad. A generalist plans an evergreen funnel and arrives after the window has closed.
- ✗ Plans evergreen acquisition and misses the launch window
- ✗ Buys sign-ups with bonuses that churn after the first bet or session
- ✗ Treats every state, platform, and market as one campaign
- ✗ Has never shipped under gaming regulation or app-store rules
- ✗ Measures installs and sign-ups instead of retained, paying players
- ✓ Sequences each launch to own the window: brand, media, partners, and moments
- ✓ Builds activation around the actions that predict value, like a second bet in 48 hours
- ✓ Creates a repeatable launch playbook localized market by market
- ✓ Designs marketing that holds up to regulators, platforms, and the press
- ✓ Brings the playbook from Hard Rock Bet and Twitch
What We Do for Gaming Companies
Market Launch Strategy
Go-to-market plans for a new state, country, platform, or title: positioning, media mix, partnerships, and the tentpole moments to launch around.
Player Acquisition
Acquisition that holds its value: offer strategy, creator and affiliate programs, and paid media tuned to retained players instead of raw sign-ups.
Activation & Retention
Lifecycle systems built around the behaviors that predict value, from the second bet to the third session, so bonuses stop leaking.
Brand & Positioning
A brand that stands apart from billion-dollar incumbents, with a story that works across ads, partners, and press.
Responsible Growth
Marketing built to hold up under state regulation, app-store policy, and public scrutiny, so growth doesn't create a compliance or reputation problem.
Team & Vendor Build
Hiring roadmaps, agency and affiliate selection, and org design for the team that runs it after we leave.
Who This Is For
This engagement is built for founders and CEOs of gaming companies who need senior marketing leadership for a launch or a growth push. If any of these sound familiar, let's talk.
- ✓ Launching a sportsbook or prediction market in a new state or country
- ✓ Shipping a mobile game or title and need a launch plan that pays back
- ✓ Sign-up bonuses are working, but players leave after the first week
- ✓ Competing against DraftKings, FanDuel, or Kalshi-scale budgets
- ✓ Need marketing that holds up to regulators and the press
- ✓ Want someone who launched a sportsbook state by state
FAQ
What does a fractional CMO for a gaming startup do?
A fractional CMO for a gaming startup is a senior marketing executive who embeds with your team part-time, typically 2 to 3 days per week, or for a defined launch project. For a sportsbook, prediction market, or game studio that means launch strategy for each new market or title, player acquisition tuned to retained value, activation and retention systems, brand positioning against larger incumbents, and the team and vendors to run it. Field Vision builds these systems and transfers them to your team.
How do you market a sportsbook launch in a new state?
Treat each state as its own launch window. Build awareness before go-live, concentrate media, partners, and cultural moments into the first weeks, and localize messaging for the market. Then shift fast to activation: the behaviors that predict long-term value, such as a second bet within 48 hours, multi-sport betting, and live in-play wagering. At Hard Rock Bet this approach supported six state launches and beat acquisition forecasts by 232%.
How is marketing a prediction market different from a sportsbook?
Prediction markets reach a broader audience than sports bettors, since users trade on news, politics, culture, and the economy as well as sports. That widens the content and creator opportunity, and it raises the stakes on trust, clear explanations of how markets work, and marketing that holds up as regulation evolves. The launch and retention fundamentals are shared with sportsbooks: own the window, then build habit after the first trade.
Do you work with mobile and video game companies too?
Yes. Game launches share the same shape as sportsbook launches: a compressed window where attention and acquisition costs peak, then early sessions that decide retention. Field Vision works on launch strategy, positioning, creator and community programs, and the lifecycle systems that keep players coming back, drawing on Twitch's live gaming platform experience.
Do you only work with funded gaming companies?
Field Vision works with gaming companies from seed through Series D. Earlier-stage teams usually need positioning, a focused launch plan, and their first retention loops; later-stage teams need a repeatable multi-market playbook, a stronger team, and tighter unit economics. Engagements can be a fractional CMO retainer or a defined go-to-market project around a launch.
Ready to Win Your Launch Window?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We'll talk about your next launch, where players are dropping off, and whether Field Vision is the right fit.
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