Why it matters: Despite the non-stop buzz around March Madness and NFL free agency, most Americans don’t actually care about sports. Fortunately, there are small groups of fans who make up the difference. The same is true for radio.
March Madness is expected to once again break records this year, yet 80% of American adults won’t fill out an NCAA bracket.
As for the NFL, despite the frenzy of Taylor Swift mania converging with the Chiefs winning another Super Bowl, 40% of Americans didn’t bother to watch the game.
As someone who did play-by-play at Boston College on WZBC-FM and began my radio career at ESPN in Bristol, these numbers are hard to comprehend.
Yet, Pew Research confirms that 60% of Americans (including 70% of women and 52% of men) don’t follow sports and 51% think sports receive too much attention.
The number one reason for this lack of interest isn’t the pace of play, political activism by athletes or concerns about player safety; it’s simply, “I’m just not interested.”
So, what’s the engine driving our cultural obsession with sports? It turns out it’s the same force that powers your radio stations: Super Fans.
According to Pew, just 7% of Americans are Super Fans who follow sports closely and talk about it every day.
In fact, they are a unique breed of enthusiasts who are the lifeblood of teams and athletes with the power to shape fortunes. Their commitment transcends casually checking scores or occasional game attendance.
Instead, they are the ones with season tickets in hand, team colors painted on their faces, and an undying loyalty that lights up social media, fuels ratings and fills stadiums.
While only 10% of men and 3% of women classify as Super Fans to sports, their impact is disproportionate to their numbers.
They are the vocal minority who steer conversations and create a buzz that attracts even the most casual viewers during playoff seasons or major sporting events. Their passion is infectious, often igniting the spirits of potential fans and creating a ripple effect that benefits the sports industry at large.
These Super Fans fuel the very essence of what makes sports a pivotal part of culture and community.
The same is true for radio. According to Nielsen Audio, among the 70,000+ Portable People Meters nationwide, the top 10% deliver 47% of all quarter-hours, while nearly 10,000 PPM panelists don’t listen to the radio at all.
Another insight Pew identified about these Super Fans with a parallel to radio is that nearly half cited cheering for an individual player (LeBron James, Joe Burrow, Caitlin Clark, or Shohei Ohtani) as a major reason they follow sports. Similarly, your on-air talent can keep your Heavy P1s coming back and driving daily cume.
A majority of Americans are indifferent to sports, as is true of politics, movies, and just about everything else. Radio is not exempt. Brand strength and monetization doesn’t come from everyone; it comes from the few who matter most. It’s no accident that this is our constant refrain and the cornerstone of DMR/Interactive’s 360-degree Listener Engagement Strategy.
Pursuing everybody? That bracket is busted.
Go Deeper on the Super Fans who drive sports.
On behalf of Catherine Jung, Tony Bannon, Jen Clayborn, and everyone at DMR/Interactive, thank you for driving radio forward.
Onward,
Andrew Curran
President and CEO
DMR/Interactive
Posted by Andrew Curran, DMR/Interactive 
DMR/Interactive: The End Result 