Audacy, owners of 40 all-sports radio stations and affiliates across the country, conducted a study titled, ‘The Power of Sports Fandom,’ which the company said, “explores Sports radio’s powerful role in fueling fan engagement, loyalty to content and broadcast brands, and the impact radio delivers for brands and advertisers.”
The study surveyed fans from seven different markets where Audacy has a sports station and included 2,275 people in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco.
Audacy did the study in partnership with Vision Insights and found that “sports radio fuels fandom and drives impact for advertisers’ brand-building and sales-led campaigns.”
“Sports radio brings fans closer to the games, teams and discussions they love, and creates a highly effective platform for advertisers to connect with deeply engaged audiences,” said Paul Suchman, Chief Marketing Officer, Audacy in a release. “With football season around the corner and baseball pennant races heating up, this is an ideal moment for brands to leverage the bond between Sports radio hosts and listeners…as they drive brand affinity and positive outcomes for their campaigns.”
84% of Americans are sports fans, according to the study and the most committed of those fans are sports radio listeners. The study also showed that nine out of 10 radio listeners consume play-by-play broadcasts and Sports talk content throughout the week.
It is the connection with the audience in sports radio, the study found, that creates opportunities for sponsors to reach their target market, while those potential customers are engaged with content that is talking about their favorite teams and players. The company looked at advertisers in auto, insurance, quick-serve restaurants, telecom, beverage and retail and saw “brand lift and better media campaign performance when advertising” on the Audacy sports stations.
Additional findings about weekly sports radio listeners included:
- 90% say unique sports talk radio content makes them feel connected
- 80% feel local sports talk radio delivers the most honest coverage of their team(s)
- 60% indicate ads on local sports talk radio messages feel more relevant and trustworthy to them than ads on TV
As the study concludes, “Fans remember the advertisers that support their teams and reward them for it.”
