Click here to view a 10-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.

With the NFL season in full swing, a never-before conducted study has been released revealing the power of the NFL to drive stunning levels of reach for marketers.

How the study conducted

The Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® commissioned Nielsen to study the season long reach of a major brand who advertised in all twenty-two weeks of the regular and the postseason, including the Super Bowl. Nielsen conducted a special “panel unification” of their 80,000-person Portable People Meter service. This is the first time such a study has been conducted for an advertiser.

This process examines listening of the PPM panelists who were in the sample during the entire twenty-two period of the NFL season. In this fashion, the reach accumulation of the advertiser campaign can be quantified.

This special analysis does not estimate the season-long reach using models. The reach was based on actual week by week exposure to the marketer’s campaign by Nielsen’s Portable Meters.

The brand’s Westwood One NFL reach increased twelve times from the first week of the season to the Super Bowl

The marketer’s reach exploded from 2.1 million in the first week of the season to 18 million by the end of the regular season. The postseason saw an additional 5.8 million of incremental reach added to the total campaign reach of 23.8 million.

Any consideration of an NFL investment should include Westwood One’s exclusive audio play-by-play coverage of approximately 100 primetime games. Westwood One is the exclusive network radio partner to the NFL since 1987, featuring regular and postseason NFL football, including the playoffs and the Super Bowl. All primetime broadcasts are be available on the newly launched Westwood One Sports app.

Five key benefits of the NFL on Westwood One

Westwood One NFL broadcasts are carried on 700 U.S. radio stations and their streams and simulcast on SiriusXM, the NFL app, as well as Google Home and Amazon Alexa. About half of the audience listens via AM/FM radio and half listens via streaming/SiriusXM.

Five key reasons to put the NFL in your media plan:

1. More engaged: The sports listener is more passionate, giving audio commercials greater impact

Across five measures of sports passion, MRI-Simmons reports Westwood One’s NFL audience is far more sports engaged than the NFL TV audience.

2. Mass reach: Buy deep in a game and long in the season to capture the massive 64 million reach

A Nielsen Portable Meter listening analysis reveals NFL on Westwood One is a reach-accumulation machine. Across the season, 64 million Americans are reached by Westwood One’s play-by-play broadcasts.

3. Closest to the point of purchase: Reach busy on-the-go people whose “best available screen” is their in-car AM/FM radio

80%+ of NFL Westwood One audience is reached in-car.

4. Desirable consumers: Reach a young, employed, and upscale audience with greater spending power

5. Makes your TV better: The NFL on Westwood One is an effective way to amplify reach and frequency of an NFL TV campaign

10 measurement case studies: The NFL on Westwood One

The Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group® is a leader in measuring audio advertising effectiveness. Through partnerships with best-of-breed advertiser effectiveness measurement firms, the Audio Active Group® can quantify the brand lift, sales effect, and search and site attribution of audio investments.

These ten case studies represent a diverse mix of categories:

• CDW, a B2B brand targeting IT decision makers
• An online sports betting brand
• Motorcycle brand
• Mobile app
• Major quick service restaurant
• Major retailer
• Telecom brand
• Prescription discount subscription service
• Two financial service firms

Click here to see the summary of these ten NFL case studies.

Across the ten case studies, the integration with Westwood One’s NFL play-by-play broadcasts universally lift brand equity, generate incremental reach, and drive purchase consideration and intent. This strong performance is due to a highly engaged mass reach audience, which is closest to the point of purchase. The NFL on Westwood One attracts a desirable consumer profile, which makes an NFL TV investment better.

Key takeaways about the NFL on Westwood One:

• 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 take advantage of 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 10-minute video of the key takeaways.

View or download the 2025 NFL Listening Report for advertisers:

View or download the 2025 NFL Listening Report for affiliates:

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer of the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group^®.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.