Click here to view a 13-minute video of the key takeaways.

Click here to download the NFL listening study for advertisers.

Click here to download NFL listening study for station affiliates.

Adam Shifrin is Vice President, Sports Sales & Marketing | Westwood One

According to a brand-new season-long Nielsen analysis of Portable People Meter tuning for the 2023-2024 season, a total of 64 million people listen to the NFL on Westwood One.

Key findings of the 2024 Westwood One NFL Listening Study:

• More engaged: The sports listener is more passionate, giving audio commercials greater impact
• Mass reach: Buy deep in a game and long in the season to capture the massive 64 million reach
• Closest to the point of purchase: Reach busy on-the-go people whose “best available screen” is their in-car AM/FM radio
• Desirable consumers: Reach a young, employed, and upscale audience with greater spending power
• Makes your TV better: The NFL on Westwood One is an effective way to amplify reach and frequency of an NFL TV campaign

The NFL on AM/FM radio is a reach machine: Each week, new listeners tune in

NFL AM/FM radio broadcasts fit into the busy lives of Americans. Some have to go to the mall to pick up their children. Others are running errands or returning from a trip to visit relatives. In Mountain and Pacific time zones, prime time games air during the drive home from work.

The NFL on Westwood One is a massive reach machine, adding new and different listeners each and every week. In the first week of the season, 8 million unique consumers tune in. Over the course of September, the unique audience expands to 21 million.

Over the entire regular season, Westwood One’s NFL play-by-play reaches 53.5 million different Americans. What happens in the postseason? Westwood One’s NFL coverage adds an additional 10 million listeners who were not reached during the regular season, lifting the season-long reach to 64 million.

Adding Westwood One’s NFL audio platform to an NFL video plan generates incremental reach

A game day audience study fielded by the NFL found adding Westwood One’s audio broadcast to NFL TV plans increases reach by +16% among high income 18-49 employed men. Among young men 18-34, Westwood One’s audio platform adds +19% reach to the TV plan.

Nielsen: The Westwood One NFL audience is upscale

Nielsen’s just released analysis of Westwood One’s NFL audience across the 2023/2024 season was conducted using the 80,000-person Portable People Meter panel. Nielsen’s analysis reveals Westwood One’s NFL audience is upper income, employed, with larger households and more likely to have kids.

The NFL on Westwood One: The best available screen in the car

Nielsen’s Portable People Meter analysis reveals 86% of the Westwood one NFL audience is reached away-from-home at some point during their exposure to the audio broadcasts.

Audio play-by-play listeners are far more sports engaged and passionate versus TV viewers

The TV and AM/FM radio NFL broadcasts have very different audience profiles. The TV audience consists of casual sports fans.

The AM/FM radio play-by-play audience is far more sports passionate and engaged. This distinction has a significant impact on advertising effectiveness.

Consider these five dimensions of sports engagement:

• Attend sports events
• Seek sports information on a phone
• Friends/family ask my advice on sports
• Considered a sports category influential consumer
• Play fantasy sports

On each measure, the Spring 2024 MRI-Simmons study reports the AM/FM radio NFL play-by-play audience is more engaged with and passionate about sports than those who watch the NFL on TV.

Who has the NFL app? Nearly twice as many NFL audio listeners have the NFL app versus frequent NFL viewers

If you need more evidence that AM/FM radio listeners are far more engaged with the NFL than TV viewers, look at who has the NFL app on their phone. A 2023 MARU/Matchbox study reveals 70% of frequent NFL audio listeners have the NFL app compared to only 39% of frequent NFL TV viewers.

Sports betting is more prevalent among AM/FM radio sports listeners versus the TV sports audience

Another key measure of passion and engagement is online sports betting. AM/FM radio listeners are more likely to be sports bettors, according to the Spring 2024 MRI-Simmons study.

Listeners to Westwood One’s Sunday, Monday and Thursday NFL prime time broadcasts are 266% more likely to be sports betters compared to the U.S. average versus the TV viewers to the same NFL prime time broadcasts (+115%).

Ads work better on NFL radio broadcasts since NFL audio listeners are 37% more likely than NFL TV viewers to be product and brand “super influentials”

The Spring 2024 MRI-Simmons study reveals those tuning in to NFL on AM/FM radio are 59% more likely than the U.S. average to be product gurus and influencers across a variety of key consumer categories. Across 22 product categories the NFL audio audience is 37% more likely than the NFL TV audience to be category influential consumers.

The NFL audio audience has greater savvy when it comes to products and services fueling substantial trust from others. Marketers who advertise in Westwood One’s NFL play-by-play audio coverage reach a more influential consumer base, extending the reach of messaging beyond the fans who tune in.

Key findings of the 2024 Westwood One NFL Listening Study:

• More engaged: The sports listener is more passionate, giving audio commercials greater impact
• Mass reach: Buy deep in a game and long in the season to capture the massive 64 million reach
• Closest to the point of purchase: Reach busy on-the-go people whose “best available screen” is their in-car AM/FM radio
• Desirable consumers: Reach a young, employed, and upscale audience with greater spending power
• Makes your TV better: The NFL on Westwood One is an effective way to amplify reach and frequency of an NFL TV campaign

Click here to view a 13-minute video of the key takeaways.

View or download the 2024 NFL Listening Report for advertisers:

View or download the 2024 NFL Listening Report for affiliates:

Adam Shifrin is Vice President, Sports Sales & Marketing | Westwood One.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.