Source: www.insideradio.com, July 2024

Female sports fans consume ad-supported audio through three primary channels, and AM/FM radio leads the way, with nearly half of all listeners.

That’s according to the latest Sports Audio Report: Female Fans, which was released by Edison Research, SiriusXM Media and GroupM. Findings of the report were presented at a Tuesday webinar by Salma Aly, Manager of Research at Edison Research; and Sophie Anderson, Associate Director, Podcast Sales Marketing at SiriusXM Media.

The research took a deep dive into the listening habits of female sports fans. It also took a broader look at their sports fandom beyond the listening.

In the past year, nearly half (48%) say they have consumed sports through AM/FM radio, over the air or via an online stream. Podcasts have a 29% share, followed by SiriusXM Radio with 20%.

Most females in the U.S. 13+ are sports fans. That’s an estimated 83 million Americans. Seventy percent of them, according to the research, agree that sports enhance their family’s closeness vs. 66% of their male counterparts.

Female sports audio listeners are increasingly turning to podcasts. The research found that 59% of female sports audio listeners and 67% of female sports podcast listeners are consuming sports audio because they want to go deeper on topics not covered elsewhere.

Their collective embrace of sports-related podcasts has been rapid: 34% say they’ve been listening less than six months, and 26% say they’ve listened for six months to a year. Another 23% have been listening for one to three years.

Their attraction to podcasts — and sports audio more generally — suggests opportunity: 35% of female sports audio listeners agree that there aren’t enough sports audio programs that give different perspectives; and 34% agree that there aren’t enough audio programs that cover the sports they like/follow.

Among other findings:

  • 58% of female sports fans socialize with others while watching or listening to sports content.
  • 32% of male sports fans are following more women’s sports or athletes than five years ago, and 26% of female sports fans are following women’s sports or athletes more vs. five years ago.
  • 33% of female fans listened to sports audio content in the last week; 37% of female sports audio listeners spent 5+ hours listening to sports audio in the last week.
  • 80% of female sports audio listeners ever listen to sports audio with other people vs. 73% of male sports audio listeners.

Said Aly: “Like our former first lady Abigail Adams once wrote, ‘Remember the ladies.’ This is something that we still need to keep in mind, especially when we are creating sports podcasts. We know women really love sports so having more variety and representation for women sports is a must for the industry.”