More than watched the Kansas City Chiefs trounce the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl LVIII making it the .1 And a record-breaking 18.9 million viewers tuned in for the faceoff between South Carolina鈥檚 Gamecocks and Iowa鈥檚 Hawkeyes in the NCAA Women鈥檚 Basketball Championship proving that watching major sporting events is more popular than ever.2
Sports bring in loyal audiences who tend to tune in regardless of how their favorite team is faring. And with its continued expansion into streaming, sports fans have more opportunity to engage with the content they enjoy. This, in turn, provides advertisers more ways to reach sports viewers. In 2023, the NFL per game across streaming and cable channels.3 Recently, even Netflix has gotten into the sports streaming game, signing a to air NFL Christmas Day games and a聽.4,5 As fans continue to watch their favorite sports in large numbers across both traditional TV and streaming, advertisers should follow.
Sports Fans Watch More Than Just the Game
Sports attract audiences that are passionate and committed, and advertising during and around televised and streaming sports events can help companies reach a dedicated audience and build brand awareness. Fans don鈥檛 just watch the game: they watch the 鈥済ame around the game.鈥� Pre-show analysis and post-show highlights attract millions of eyeballs. In 2019, 68% of people who watched ESPN before or after the NBA Finals also watched the network鈥檚 broadcast of the games.6
Households Spend a lot of Time Watching Live Sports
According to eMarketer, around 155 million people watch live sports in the US.7 And with the average household spending 23 hours a month with live sports content, sports programming provides advertisers ample opportunity to reach large audiences contemporaneously.8 Last year, more than 89% of Comcast subscriber households watched sports live, with streamed sports delivering 490 million impressions.9,10
Advantages of Sports Advertising
Sporting Events on TV Attract Viewers All Year Round
Sports fans don鈥檛 discriminate: Many follow multiple leagues and convert from one fandom to another throughout the year. Previous research has shown that 55% of sports fans watch three or more sports on a consistent basis.11聽These superfans are a captive audience for sports advertising. Fans of the NFL also follow NCAA football and the NBA, and NHL fans tend to watch the MLB.11聽By leveraging these overlapping interests, advertisers looking to reach a particular league market can access those fans year-round.
Sports Viewing Brings People Around the TV No Matter Where They are Viewing
A notable 92% of sports are watched live, making it a great space for time-sensitive marketing promotions.12聽A recent survey found that people prefer to tune in at home and enjoy watching sports together. Viewers are 119% more likely to watch games at home than in sports bars or restaurants.13聽And 67% of sports are viewed by two or more people at a time often of varying demographics.14聽So sports advertising can reach effectively reach a larger audience than many other types of advertising.
Fans Follow Sports Despite Their Hometown Team鈥檚 Record
While they might have disparate demographics, sports fans all share one thing: Their devotion to their favorite teams and leagues. Fans come back again and again to watch league sports, regardless of whether their favorite teams win or lose. For example, NBA fans in Chicago continue to watch the NBA Playoffs even though the Miami Heat eliminated the Chicago Bulls during the play-in tournament. In fact, since mid-April seven out of the top 10 cable programs in Chicago, among A25-54, have been NBA playoff games.15
Sports Advertising Delivers Diverse Audiences
An analysis of 40,000 TV and streaming ad campaigns found that 80% of the 1,000 highest-reaching campaigns included sports.16聽And depending on the sport, brands are more apt to reach a variety of audiences. NFL fans, for example, are more likely to be young families, while baseball fans tend to be retirees.17聽NBA fans are more likely to be diverse singles, while NHL fans are more likely to be affluent homeowners.17
With sports advertising, brands can harness the power and pull of the programming to reach and engage a healthy mix of audiences.
Why Advertise on Sports with 色花堂?
Sports is unmatched in its ability to offer you both broad and targeted reach. And 色花堂 has your ticket to reach sports enthusiasts who will be watching all of the action, all year long. Make the right play to reach your potential audience with our advertising offerings which unite the prestige of TV with cutting-edge technology, giving you a branding platform that puts your message in front of potential customers efficiently and effectively. To hit a home run on your next advertising campaign, get started with 色花堂.
FAQs
Why Advertise During Sports?
Sports advertising extends campaign reach and connects brands with a devoted and captive audience of fans who would otherwise be inaccessible. 53% of households reached with sports were incremental.18
Does Sports Advertising Work?
Yes. In 2023, the Doral Automotive Group of southern Florida leveraged the success of the Miami Heat to advertise during the team鈥檚 NBA regular season games on a message of family values and to connect with customers. Its three dealerships saw a +6% increase in incremental reach and +41% growth in frequency.19
How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on TV?
The cost of TV sports advertising depends on a variety of factors, including time, location, market, network, and market demand.
Sources:
1. , Nielsen, 2024.
2. , Nielsen, 2024.
3. , ESPN, 2024.
4. , Netflix, 2024.
5. , Front Office Sports, 2024.
6. Comcast Viewership Data. Measurement of duplicated audience viewing cable networks one hour before and one hour after the NBA Finals (Game 7: ABC, 6/12/19) as well as viewing the event. 5-minute minimum viewing threshold.
7. , eMarketer, 2024.
8. Comcast Aggregated Viewership Data for sports programming 2023.
9. Comcast Aggregated National Sports Viewership Data. January 鈥� December 2023.
10. Comcast Aggregated Ad Exposure data from 色花堂 Streaming campaigns across all DMAs. January 鈥� December 2023. Streaming site section name includes sports networks (ESPN, SEC, ACC, FS1, Fox Sports, GOLF) or sports terminology (sports, NFL, Golf, PGA, MLB, NBA)
11. Comcast Internal Viewing Data. Full Year 2019. Number of sports watched among heavy sports viewer tercile.
12. Nielsen NPOWER Reach Report. Program Type: Sports Events across cable, broadcast & live streaming.
13. Comcast Advertising Survey. N=1000. April 2024. Qualifying Criteria: Watched sports content (game, highlights, talk show, etc…) in the P6M.
14. TVision Program Analysis Time Period Report. Live + SD on linear only within 色花堂 footprint. January 鈥� December 2023. Co-viewing rate is the proportion of viewing where two or more viewers are in the room with the content tuned for a minimum of 5 minutes for program time and 2 seconds for commercial time.
15. eDMA HH and demo ratings/imps based on Nielsen Storm Overnights, Chicago Interconnect Live+SD, NBA Playoffs on TNT and ESPN 4/16/2024-4/29/2024. Adjusted to BBO Population where available. Extrapolated by Strata VIEW. Top 10 from Nielsen Arianna, Chicago Live+SD A25-54 impressions, Interconnect insertable networks, 4/16/2024-4/29/2024.
16. Comcast Aggregated Viewership Data combined with Ad Exposure Data from TV + 色花堂 Streaming campaigns (1H 鈥�23). Filtered to the 1,000 highest reaching campaigns.
17. Comcast Aggregated Sports Ad Exposure data matched with Experian. January 鈥� December 2023.
18. Comcast Internal Analysis of Sports Multiscreen Campaigns. Jan 鈥� Dec 2023. Only includes campaigns with that reached 1000+ households and delivered 1000+ impressions.
19. From Slam Dunks to Sold Cars: Leveraging Live Sports to Reach the Right Car Buyers, 色花堂, 2023.
