Fantasy Football for Marketers: Draft Your 2025 Growth Team

It’s that time of year again. The 2025 NFL season kicks off on Thursday, September 4, with the defending champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, taking on the Dallas Cowboys under the bright lights. Across the country, fantasy football managers are huddled over their draft boards, debating whether to go heavy on running backs or grab that elite tight end early.

And if you’re a brand in today’s market? You should be thinking the same way.

Because just like a championship fantasy roster, your growth stack needs balance, versatility, and players who can deliver under pressure.

Why Build Your Growth Stack Like a Fantasy Football Team?

Fantasy football is part art, part science. You analyze player stats, matchups, bye weeks, and injury reports. You know when to grab a surefire QB1 and when to take a flyer on a sleeper pick. You consider the right balance of big-play potential and dependable point-getters.

Your mobile growth strategy should work the same way.

• Quarterbacks (QBs) call the shots and decide who gets the ball, driving performance with data and insight.
• Running Backs (RBs) grind out consistent gains, whether as a steady workhorse or a power back who breaks tackles.
• Wide Receivers (WRs) make the big plays, opening up new scoring opportunities.
• Defense (DST) protects the field, controlling positioning and dictating how the game is played.
• Kickers may not see constant action, but they deliver clutch points when attribution is on the line.
• FLEX is your wild card. These are players that don’t always fit traditional molds but can plug in anywhere and deliver big, unexpected plays.

Just like in fantasy football, a weak roster leaves you scrambling on Sundays. In mobile, that translates to wasted spend, poor ROAS, and campaigns that get knocked out before playoffs.

Let the Games Begin: Why Mobile Is More Competitive Than Ever

Gone are the days of mobile marketing being a friendly pickup game. We’re in the NFL now: full speed, full contact, no mercy.

Sensor Tower’s State of Mobile 2025 report shows just how fierce the competition has become:

• $150 billion in global mobile consumer spending across the App Store and Google Play in 2024. This is the strongest growth of the industry since 2021.
  
  
• For the first time ever, non-gaming apps account for the majority of revenue, making up 51% of total spending.
  
  
• Generative AI apps like Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT nearly doubled their downloads and drove $1.3 billion in consumer spend, representing a 177% YoY surge.
  
  
• Categories like travel, retail, and entertainment have seen major download growth, signaling shifting consumer interests and ad opportunities.

This is the part of the season where every GM is pulling out the playbook and making moves. Your competitors are picking up high-performing players off the waiver wire, adjusting their formations, and spending big to stay in playoff contention.

If your lineup isn’t elite, you’re playing from behind.

Our Fantasy Growth Team Roster

Here’s our draft board for the ultimate mobile marketing squad:

Quarterback: CRAFTSMAN+

The play-caller. With visibility across the rest of the roster, CRAFTSMAN+ analyzes the field and knows which creative strategy can move the ball. In a game where fatigue is constant, it’s the QB’s ability to make the right read that keeps campaigns scoring. AppsFlyer data backs it up: the top 2% of gaming creatives drive 53% of spend, while in non-gaming it’s 43%—proof that winning today requires smart play-calling, continuous testing, and creative diversification.

Running Back: Adikteev

Adikteev, aka your every-down back. This retargeting workhorse consistently moves the chains, turning short-yardage plays into first downs and keeping your ROAS drives alive.

Power Back: Applovin

Every roster needs a power back. That is, a player drives global scale and muscle to punch through saturated markets. With massive scale and a dominant all-in-one platform, AppLovin powers through defenses and opens lanes for big gains.

Wide Receiver: DataSeat

Dataseat is your precision route-runner DSP with SKAdNetwork-compliancy and privacy-first targeting. When you need to thread the needle in a post-IDFA world, DataSeat runs the perfect route.

Wide Receiver: Liftoff

The field-stretcher. Liftoff is your performance UA player with the speed to open up new scoring chances. They can take the top off the defense and bring in the big plays.

Wide Receiver: InMobi

The versatile wideout. With global scale and reach across verticals, InMobi finds openings and turns them into long-yardage gains.

Tight End: Moloco

Your trusted hybrid. Moloco is your go-to DSP with the versatility to block, protect, and make clutch catches. This is the player who keeps the pocket clean for your QB and still hauls in the touchdown in the red zone.

Defense: Meta

The defense that keeps pressure on the field. With massive reach and format diversity, Meta dictates matchups and forces competitors to adjust.

Defense: Google

The lockdown defender. With supply-side dominance and control of key inventory, Google commands the field and dictates where the plays can happen.

Kicker: MMPs

The kickers. Attribution specialists who put critical points on the board. When they’re accurate, they win games; when they miss, it’s a costly flop.

FLEX: Reddit, Discord, Snapchat

The wildcards. Sometimes overlooked, but capable of flipping momentum with creative formats, community engagement, and surprise plays that swing outcomes.

Why This Roster Wins

A winning fantasy team isn’t about collecting the most star players, but making sure you’ve got coverage across the field.

This lineup covers every yard:

• A QB that calls the right plays (CRAFTSMAN+) by reading the industry and knowing where the creative ball should go.
  
  
• Two strong RBs that handle both consistency (Adikteev) and power (AppLovin).
  
  
• Three WRs that open the field in different ways: precision (DataSeat), explosive speed (Liftoff), and global versatility (InMobi).
  
  
• A Defense built on control (Meta + Google), shutting down inefficiency and dictating where and how the game is played.
  
  
• A Kicker squad (MMPs) that converts critical attribution points under pressure.
  
  
• A FLEX group (Reddit, Discord, Snapchat) that brings adaptability and unpredictability, delivering surprise plays that can swing momentum in your favor.

Miss one of these positions, and the whole offense sputters. It’s like benching your RB1 and hoping your kicker can make up the difference (spoiler: they can’t). Weak lineups get punished in fantasy football with embarrassing last-place penalties, and in mobile marketing, that punishment is wasted spend, poor ROAS, and campaigns that never make the playoffs.

Takeaways (and a Hail Mary)

1. Draft for roles, not names – Success comes from a balanced lineup where every partner has a defined job.
   
   
2. Let your QB call the plays – With creative now the driver of spend, you need a strategy hub (like CRAFTSMAN+) that knows which asset to give the ball.
   
   
3. Balance reliability and explosiveness – Pair workhorse performers (Adikteev, AppLovin) with game-breaking WRs (DataSeat, Liftoff, InMobi).
   
   
4. Defend your position – Platforms like Meta and Google dictate field position; ignore them and you’re playing on your heels.
   
   
5. Use your FLEX wisely – Reddit, Discord, and Snapchat may not be your starters, but they can deliver the surprise plays that swing momentum.
   
   
6. Respect your kickers – MMPs don’t light up the highlight reel, but a missed attribution can cost you the season.

Ready to draft your championship-caliber growth lineup?
Let’s help you kick your creative into high gear, because when the fourth quarter hits and the game’s on the line, you want the kind of clutch performance that wins championships.