While marketers still funnel millions of ad dollars into high-profile sporting events on TV, savvy brands are finding real ROI on AM/FM. Analysis shows sports radio listeners aren’t just fans; they’re fanatics who reward brands aligned with their teams, in season and out.
Audacy’s 2026 State of Audio Sports Fandom, drawing on data from Vision Insights, Nielsen Scarborough, MRI-Simmons, and Edison Research, found sports audio listeners index 41% higher in fan avidity than average sports fans. Translation: they’re obsessives who track offseason trades (72%), follow team news daily (83%), and consume 4+ hours of sports content every single day (26%). Those are all major contributors to why sports podcast listening has surged 71% since 2020.
On the AM/FM side, avid sports radio listeners are 2.5x more likely to consider brands that support their teams. 60% of avid fans connect brands to their most memorable fan experiences. When a brand sponsors their team or league, 61% of sports radio listeners feel more positive about it, and 40% actively support the brand in return. Both figures more than double those of non-listeners.
Sports radio advertising doesn’t just build awareness; it drives action. Web traffic lifts range from 10% for automotive to 105% for financial services. Versus sports advertisers not on radio, sports radio ads deliver 37% lift in familiarity, 20% lift in consideration, 40% lift in usage.
Sports radio listeners are 71% more likely to trust brand sponsorships; podcast listeners 80% more likely. Among the coveted 18-34 demo, radio sponsors index 144 for memorability and resonance versus 114 for TV. Nearly half of listeners support products recommended by their favorite hosts.
Audacy provided a few case studies to show these results at work.
C4 Energy partnered with Audacy Detroit’s 97.1 The Ticket to sponsor The Football Show, a live YouTube-exclusive program hosted by Mike Valenti and Jim Costa airing Sunday nights. The integrated campaign across radio, streaming audio, podcasts, YouTube, and in-store displays at participating 7-Eleven locations drove a 39% same-store sales lift and 20% to 22% overall sales growth across southeast Michigan.
A Placer.ai study showed Buffalo Wild Wings saw an 11.2% increase in store foot traffic in Baltimore tied to sports audio entitlements on Audacy’s 105.7 The Fan.
The 2026 State of Audio Sports Fandom comes two days after Cumulus Media’s Westwood One revealed its own findings on how sports radio delivers high-value travel customers, with listeners indexing well above average for premium cruise and hotel brands.
