New research from the Audacy Insights Team reveals that today's most avid sports fans are younger, more diverse, and more effectively reached through sports audio platforms—like radio, podcasts, and streaming—than by traditional media alone.
Avid fans prioritize depth of engagement ("avidity") over mere exposure, consuming sports content all day via pre-game analysis, post-game reactions, insider podcasts, and more. Seven in ten use every available medium to follow their teams. More than a quarter spend four or more hours daily on sports content.
This avid audience skews young and diverse:
- 27% are ages 18-34, 38% identify as Asian, Black, or Latino, and 38% are women.
- Among younger fans, live television is no longer dominant
- Sports radio, podcasts, and social platforms often lead as primary touchpoints.
- These fans redefine premium content by embracing podcasts, sports talk, fantasy leagues, betting platforms, and athlete-driven streams as core to their fandom, not add-ons.
- For marketers, audio stands out as "the hardest-working buy in sports."
In competitive categories, campaigns drive significant web traffic gains: +105% in financial services, +42% in home improvement, and +32% in insurance.
With 2026's packed calendar—including the Winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, NBA/NHL/MLB seasons, NCAA basketball tournaments, and NFL Draft—fan attention fragments across platforms. Yet sports audio meets avid fans throughout their day, in ongoing conversations and analysis beyond live games.
Read the full Audacy Insights article here.