Football spikes live sports TV ad spend annually in Q4

Key stat: Live sports programming accounted for nearly 40% of US national TV ad spend in both Q4 2022 and Q4 2023, according to September 2024 data from iSpot.tv.

Beyond the chart:

• Last year, the NFL dominated TV ratings, making up 93 of the top 100-most watched broadcasts in the US, per Nielsen. The NFL’s huge audience, national reach, and local appeal make it the most valuable advertising and broadcast platform.
• In 2024, 105.3 million people—or 30.8% of the population—are expected to watch live sports digitally, according to our September 2024 forecast. Streaming has been a win for sports advertising, as streamers like Max and Amazon Prime Video leverage sports rights and creative ad formats to compete for connected TV (CTV) ad dollars.

Use this chart: Marketers could use this chart to show why it’s smart to expand CTV campaigns around live sports, taking advantage of the growing audience moving to digital platforms.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• US TV and CTV Ad Spending Benchmarks: Q3 2024​ (EMARKETER subscription required)
• US CTV Time Spent vs. Ad Spending 2024 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Note: Data was provided to EMARKETER by iSpot.TV.