XTB announced on Friday what it called the largest advertising campaign in its history, putting former heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury alongside Zlatan Ibrahimović. The same day, its stock price fell 5.4% in Warsaw as a revenue warning from IG Group dragged listed brokers lower.
XTB spent PLN 435.5 million (about $112 million) on marketing in the first half of 2026, 64.7% more than a year earlier, and signed shirt 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 rising by 30% to 40% a year through 2029.
London's trading industry is coming home!
The campaign has one main spot with both ambassadors and nine shorter formats, all shot in Warsaw.
It 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.
Fury Joins a Crowded Field of Sports Ambassadors
Szymon Szymański, XTB's chief growth officer, said the campaign aims to show that money "should not be a reason for shame."
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Fury filmed his spots in Warsaw in May. XTB sponsored his 2024 rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, while Ibrahimović has fronted its ads since September 2024.
Boxing has been used before. NAGA signed Mike Tyson as a brand ambassador in November 2024, a deal its chief executive said took two weeks to put together.
Trading brands spent $183 million on sports sponsorship in the 2024-25 season, three times the 2019-20 level, with Swissquote, eToro and Plus500 spending the most among CFD brokers. Ambassador deals reached a record 30 active agreements in that season.
IG's Warning Hit the Whole Sector
IG said on Friday that third-quarter revenue would come in at about £240 million (about $317 million), down 14% year-over-year.
IG blamed a drop in revenue retention on its over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives to about 70% from an average of 80%. It now expects mid-single-digit revenue growth for 2026, below its earlier range of 10% to 15%.
Retention is the share of client trading income a market maker keeps as revenue. IG's customer income from OTC trading rose about 8% in the quarter, but its OTC net trading revenue fell about 18%, a gap IG put down to "less supportive market conditions."
IG closed 22.6% lower at 990 pence. CMC Markets lost 4% and Plus500 fell 5.2%, even after it said at midday that it was trading in line with expectations.
XTB earns most of its money the same way. CFDs generated 96% of its trading result in the first half, even as most new clients came 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 give a budget for the campaign. It is scheduled to publish its third-quarter report on November 20.
