XTB Rolls Out What It Calls Its Biggest Ad Campaign

XTB unveiled on Friday what it calls the largest advertising campaign in its history, fronting former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury alongside Zlatan Ibrahimović. The same day, the Warsaw-listed broker's shares closed 5.4% lower as a revenue warning from IG Group dragged listed brokers down across Europe.

The campaign carries significant spending behind it. XTB put PLN 435.5 million (roughly $112 million) into marketing in the first half of 2026, 64.7% more than a year earlier, and signed shirt sponsorship deals with Olympique Lyonnais and FC Porto within four days in August. Paweł Szejko, the board member responsible for finance, said in July that marketing budgets could keep growing 30% to 40% a year through 2029.

One main spot featuring both ambassadors and nine shorter formats were shot in Warsaw. The campaign runs on television, streaming services, online and outdoor screens in Poland, Germany, France, Portugal, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as the Middle East, Chile and Indonesia. Szymon Szymański, XTB's chief growth officer, said the goal is to show that money "should not be a reason for shame." Fury filmed his spots in Warsaw in May; XTB sponsored his 2024 rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, while Ibrahimović has appeared in its advertising since September 2024.

A crowded ambassador market

XTB is far from alone in buying sports star power. NAGA signed Mike Tyson as a brand ambassador in November 2024, and trading brands spent $183 million on sports sponsorship in the 2024-25 season — three times the 2019-20 level — with Swissquote, eToro and Plus500 the biggest spenders among CFD brokers. Ambassador agreements hit a record 30 active deals that season.

The sector-wide selloff came from IG Group, which said Friday that third-quarter revenue would be about £240 million ($317 million), down 14% year over year. It blamed a fall in revenue retention on over-the-counter derivatives to roughly 70% from an 80% average, and guided to mid-single-digit revenue growth for 2026, below its earlier 10% to 15% range. IG's OTC customer income rose about 8% in the quarter while OTC net trading revenue fell about 18%, a gap the company attributed to "less supportive market conditions." IG closed 22.6% lower at 990 pence; CMC Markets lost 4% and Plus500 fell 5.2%, even after Plus500 said at midday it was trading in line with expectations.

XTB earns most of its money the same way, with CFDs generating 96% of its trading result in the first half even though most new clients arrived for stocks and ETFs. Its stock had already slipped 3% on Thursday and closed Friday at PLN 138.56, about 10% below its September 24 level. XTB did not disclose a budget for the campaign and is due to publish third-quarter results on November 20.