Edison Research: Sports Podcast Listeners are Loyal Fans

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, June 20, 2024 | 11:05am CT

Edison Research

According to Edison Research, long gone are the days when current athletes had to wait for retirement to start a career in sports commentating. Today, the likes of Jason and Travis Kelce, LeBron James, Draymond Green and many others are playing out their sports careers by day and spending their nights in front of the mic. What they're doing is giving the podcast world fresh perspectives directly from the locker room, and in return, podcast listeners are giving athletes their robust loyalty. Sports podcast listeners are more loyal to athletes than your average sports fan.

According to the newly released Sports Audio Report from Edison Research, SiriusXM Media, and GroupM, 76% of sports podcast listeners continue to follow athletes if they are traded to a new team vs. 51% of sports fans who don't listen to sports podcasts.

This loyalty ties back to the fact that U.S. podcast consumers are more likely to be Gen-Z and Millennials, which correlates with younger sports fans being more interested in following athletes' lives beyond the field compared to older sports fans. Fifty-two percent of Gen Z Sports Fans closely follow the personal lives of athletes they like, beyond the athletes' sports careers, compared to 26% of Boomers who do the same. Sports podcasts provide fans with another way to connect with specific athletes and stay up-to-date on their favorite teams.

Female fans are also becoming loyal listeners and will be covered more in Edison Research's upcoming Sports Audio Report: Female Fans on July 16 at 2pm EDT. This emerging demographic is increasingly tuning into sports podcasts, showing the same, if not greater, loyalty to their favorite athletes.