If you are a sports fan, you may have seen a crisp, bright red logo at events and related marketing. From football to combat-based sports, this rouge coloured aircraft is the flagship for a new type of online casino game. Known as Aviator, it was created by Spribe Studios. A deal signed last year means it will now be familiar at both UFC and WWE events.
Aviator is a crash casino game. Its owners, Spribe, have signed marketing deals with many major sports firms, including TKO, in a bid to get their branding featured at major events.
The Concept Behind Aviator
Aviator is a casino game that has now been around for some time. It has been heralded as the pioneer of what has become the ‘crash’ gaming genre. This is a new type of casino vertical in which games are simple to play, low-wagering, and have quick turnarounds. In truth, crash gaming was around for some time before Aviator arrived on the scene. Yet this title added modern social features and gamification elements borrowed from casual mobile gaming, which catapulted it to casino fame.
In a game of Aviator, you start by entering a lobby. Here you can talk to other players and see who has managed to win the most over the last few rounds, which fosters a very social atmosphere. In some versions, you can even pool your bet with other players and make a collective wager, enhancing the appeal. As you all bet on the same round and not against a dealer or each other, it becomes an event akin to watching a sports game.
Once you place a wager, the round will begin, and a small aircraft takes off into the sky. As a player, your aim is to predict how far it will travel. The longer you hold your nerve, the more multipliers will arrive and increase your total. Yet if you don’t cash out before the crash, then you lose everything and start all over again. This simplicity makes it different from games like poker that require complex strategy, and different from slots, which often need you to understand how symbols and bonus rounds work. You can just log on and play.
Since its release, crash games have gone crazy. You can play titles in which you guess how far chickens will get across the road, experience games integrated with live dealer technology, and even bet on the flow of traffic through real-world CCTV cameras. Globally, Aviator itself has an estimated 66 million players a month.
Aviator’s Sporting Deals
Aviator was created by Spribe Studios. Since its introduction, they have slowly managed to roll it out as a global brand, going from a niche title on crypto casinos to being associated with the world’s biggest sporting and entertainment events. An example lies in 2024’s historic deal with AC Milan, the Italian soccer club. They inked a deal with the team to be its official Crash Gaming Partner.
Giorgi Tsutskiridze, CCO of SPRIBE, announced in the official statement that “We are pioneers in the crash game format and among the development teams forging significant marketing partnerships with organizations and sports teams, like this agreement with AC Milan. This partnership will help Aviator take off in the Italian market, increasing the game’s visibility among Rossoneri fans worldwide.”
Aviator and TKO
Even before this, Aviator had been in partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Yet in January 2025 it signed a deal with TKO Holdings, parent company for both UFC and the WWE. The arrangement was to have the game’s logo placed on the octagon canvas at UFC events across the world. It would also roll out to premium hotel experiences and social media advertising.
Additionally, the logo would be visible at certain WWE events. This was a more selective agreement, mainly due to licensing, local laws, and WWE’s more family-centric approach in regard to gambling advertising. This occurred in the same month that WWE’s main television programme, RAW, had its first outing on Netflix. By switching to the streaming network, viewership increased by 116% over the previous year’s average.
Brand Ambassadors
Another key element has been the appointment of brand ambassadors. These have primarily been stars from UFC, and they have been employed on short-term contracts before another has taken their place. An example comes from December 2025, when Valter “The Clean Monster” Walker was appointed. He had recently completed a four-fight winning streak. It is a tactic that has worked well for the company: Aligning with up-and-coming stars quickly gaining social and sports popularity.
This will help Aviator grow even further. It has around 400,000 bets placed on it per minute, which are made across over 6000 online casinos and sportsbooks. While it has many pretenders to its crown, it remains the top crash gaming experience.
