The car dashboard turned into the best seat in the house for NFL fans on Opening Sunday. Xperi listening data shows drivers flocked to radio coverage before kickoff and stayed well after the final whistle, reinforcing AM/FM’s power with sports fans.
Nationally, flagship stations carrying live NFL coverage posted about a 60% average increase in overall Sunday audience share compared to the previous four weeks. Tune-in climbed 111% heading into kickoff, and the audience held even stronger afterward, posting a 152% increase as listeners stayed tuned for highlights, locker-room reaction, and postgame analysis.
The lift varied widely by market.
In Buffalo, NY, Bills’ flagship 97 Rock (WGRF) saw a 265% increase in share, with audience growth of roughly 400% heading into kickoff that held through the postgame window. In Nashville, TN, the Titans’ 104.5 The Zone (WGFX) posted a 102% increase in average Sunday share, with tune-in up 160% before kickoff and 215% afterward. In Phoenix, AZ, the Cardinals’ Arizona Sports 98.7 (KMVP) recorded a 78% lift in Sunday share, an 87% surge heading into the game, and a 258% jump in postgame listening.
These figures come from Xperi’s DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal, which measures real-time connected-car listening.
This year’s Opening Sunday numbers add to a broader run of data showing football keeps AM/FM radio unusually sticky. In August, Radio Ink reported on a Cumulus Media/Westwood One study finding NFL radio listeners rated their engagement with the season higher than TV viewers did, with 39% saying they had muted a broadcast to hear the radio call.
Sports radio’s pull with fans extends beyond attention span. In April, Radio Ink covered a study finding sports radio sponsors score higher on ad memorability than TV sponsors among young fans, and that listeners are about twice as likely to feel positively toward a brand backing their team as non-listeners are. Sports-formatted AM/FM stations have grown 14% over the past decade, and their share of total ad revenue climbed from 9.3% in 2016 to 12.8% in 2025, according to Miller Kaplan.
