Why Football Streaming Belongs in Your Fall Advertising Strategy

Football season brings more than packed stadiums and busy Saturdays and Sundays. It brings together something increasingly difficult for advertisers to find: a large, engaged audience watching content live.

For dealerships, that represents more than reach. It means access to consumers while they are actively watching rather than scrolling past content or catching up later.

Sports Advertising Drives Action

As entertainment audiences fragment across streaming platforms, live sports continue to pull viewers together. During the week of Aug. 31–Sept. 6, nine of the 10 highest-rated programs among adults 18–49 were live sports, according to Nielsen ratings reported by Spots N Dots, and those aren’t the only numbers supporting the impact of football streaming campaigns.

NFL Games Average 18.7 Million Viewers

During the 2025 regular season, roughly 18.7 million viewers tuned in to root for their team every game. That’s up 10% year over year. For advertisers, football remains one of the rare opportunities to reach massive audiences through programming people prioritize watching live.

A Single NFL Commercial Is Equal to 73 Primetime Broadcasts

One regular-season NFL commercial generated the same consumer-engagement impact as approximately 73 primetime broadcast and cable ads. That’s up 15% from the previous season, according to EDO. The measurement suggests football advertising can do more than generate impressions. It can prompt consumers to take a next step.

Sports Viewers Actually Watch Your Ads

Sports audiences aren’t simply large; they’re responsive to advertising. One of the biggest perks of advertising during live sports? Unlike the average doom-scrolling session, sports viewers are actively engaged with the content.

• 64% of CTV viewers say they pay attention to ads during live sports, and 74% want those ads to be more relevant.
• 46% of sports fans have purchased a product they saw while cheering on their favorite sports team.
• 70% of sports fans watch live sports through streaming. A streaming strategy helps dealerships reach fans across the platforms and devices where they watch.
• 95%+ video completion rate: Streaming video gives dealerships a better opportunity to deliver their full message rather than fighting for a split second of attention.

Put Your Dealership in the Game

Football streaming combines the reach and engagement of live sports with the targeting capabilities of digital advertising. Strong’s Football Streaming Bundle gives dealerships access to a curated pool of football-focused inventory across premium streaming publishers and networks, with delivery optimized throughout the season as inventory changes.

For dealerships, geographic targeting makes that reach more relevant by focusing impressions on consumers in the markets they actually serve. That means reaching football fans across the platforms and devices they use while keeping the campaign focused on the dealership’s local market. Specific games and in-game placements may not be guaranteed, but dealerships can still reach football audiences across the season with a message built for their local market.

Your customers are watching. Contact Strong Automotive today, and put your dealership in the game.