This year, more than 90 million US viewers are expected to stream a sports event at least once a month—up over 50% from 2021, and for the first time, live sports on digital platforms are projected to surpass traditional pay TV, with 114 million digital viewers compared to 82 million on cable or satellite.
Live sports consistently dominate TV’s biggest moments (for example, Super Bowl LIX drew a record 127.7 million viewers, including 14.5 million streaming viewers), but today’s sports fans rarely stick to one screen. They’re watching, scrolling, listening, and sharing.
To make an impact, it’s not enough for brands to show up on a handful of big games or run ads in just one channel. The most effective campaigns follow sports fans before, during, and after the game, meeting them across every screen they use and doing it with meaningful creative and targeting that ensures every impression counts.
In this post, we’ll break down a four-part strategy for reaching sports audiences at every stage: building awareness in high-attention live moments, extending engagement between games, driving conversions with high-intent formats, and measuring results to fuel your next season.
To make a lasting impression among sports fans who follow their teams week after week, start where attention is at its peak. Nothing matches the energy of a live game—whether it’s a championship showdown or opening day—when emotions are high and viewers are fully engaged.
CTV and linear TV placements during these events put your brand at the center of the action, but high-impact campaigns don’t stop there. Extending your message across digital display, social, audio, and digital-out-of-home ensures your brand stays visible as fans move between devices throughout the day.
The most effective advertisers combine their own customer data (such as past purchases or sign-ups) with sports viewership patterns and location signals to ensure their message reaches the right audience at the right time. Major live moments, such as a nationally televised championship, are ideal for driving broad awareness, while local matchups can help brands connect with passionate regional audiences. By balancing national reach with local relevance—and tailoring creative to each market—you can ensure your brand resonates with sports fans no matter where or how they’re watching.
Live games may be the marquee event, but the fan experience doesn’t end at the final whistle. Between games, audiences are replaying highlights, streaming sports talk shows, following analysis on social media, and listening to podcasts about their favorite players and teams.
Many of those moments now happen exclusively online: 33% of US internet households subscribe to a direct-to-consumer sports streaming service, and 40% of sports viewers rely solely on streaming platforms for their sports content.
By pairing always-on CTV sports content with digital-out-of-home placements along game-day routes or at watch parties in bars and restaurants, you keep your brand visible and top of mind. And with cross-device retargeting, you can follow up with timely, relevant messages to those who saw your live ads: extending the impact well beyond a single broadcast.
The best campaigns bridge the gap between excitement and action with offers, creative, and targeting that inspire people to convert.
Consider adding shoppable CTV ads with product carousels or special promotions to make it easy for fans to act on their interest in the moment. Geofencing can trigger location-based offers when fans are near a store, while cross-device retargeting reinforces your message until the desired action is complete.
Measuring your campaign’s impact means going beyond impressions. Tracking sales lift, store visits, online conversions, and brand engagement helps you optimize for future sports seasons.
Measure performance across CTV, linear, and digital to see how each touchpoint contributes to your goals. With this insight, you can double down on what’s working and adjust what’s not, even mid-flight or mid-season, ensuring your investment drives real results.
The most impactful sports advertising reaches audiences at multiple points in the funnel: before, during, and after the game and across every screen. By anchoring in live moments, extending engagement between games, connecting creative to conversion, and measuring what matters, you can capture the full value of sports audiences year-round.
The same playbook works year-round—whether it’s Super Bowl, March Madness, Baseball Opening Day, or the Winter Olympics. If you’re ready to put this kind of omnichannel strategy into play, you need a partner who can execute across every channel and every screen that matters. Cadent’s Total Sports package is built to do exactly that: help you turn fan attention into measurable results all season long.