Edison Research releases Sports Audio Report: Female Fans

The latest report, Sports Audio Report: Female Fans with Edison Research, SiriusXM Media, and GroupM explores the unique audio listening habits of U.S. female sports fans and shows how they interact with sports beyond the field.

Sports audio plays an integral role in female sports fandom – 57% of female sports fans “frequently” or “occasionally” listened to sports audio content in the last year.

Findings were presented in a webinar by Salma Aly, Manager of Research at Edison Research and Sophie Anderson, Associate Director, Podcast Sales Marketing at SiriusXM Media.

Top findings among women sports fans include:

• The majority of females are sports fans: 57% of the U.S. female population age 13+ consider themselves to be sports fans; an estimated 83 million Americans.
• Female fans use sports to keep their family ties strong: 70% of women sports fans agree that sports brings their family closer together compared to 66% of male sports fans.
• Female fans leverage sports for social connections: 58% of female sports fans socialize with other people while watching or listening to sports content.
• Male sports fans are more likely to have cried because of the outcome of a sporting event than female sports fans: 25% of male sports fans say yes, they have cried and 20% of female sports fans say yes, they have cried.
• Men and women rally behind women’s sports: 32% of male sports fans are following more women’s sports or athletes more than they were five years ago; 26% of female sports fans are following women’s sports or athletes more compared to five years ago.

Top findings among women who listen to sports audio:

• Female fans devote significant time to sports audio content: 33% of female sports 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.
• Female sports audio listeners are more likely than male sports listeners to listen to sports audio with others: 80% of female sports audio listeners ever listen to sports audio with other people compared to 73% of male sports audio listeners.
• Female sports audio listeners are turning to podcasts to seek new perspectives: 59% of female sports audio listeners and 67% of female sports podcast listeners say yes that they consume sports audio to hear unique perspectives on sports topics not covered in other media.
• There is an opportunity with female sports audio listeners as they lack a wide variety of content: 35% of female sports audio listeners agree that there aren’t enough sports audio programs that give different perspectives; 34% agree that there aren’t enough audio programs that cover the sports they like/follow.

Aly said, "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.”

Click here to download the Sports Audio Report: Female Fans

About the study

The Sports Audio Report: Female Fans was based off an online study of over 3,500 U.S. individuals age 13+ who self-identify as sports fans (a four or higher on a 10-point scale) and 1,502 of those sports fans who self-identity as female. Fans are defined as someone who self-reports a four or higher on a 10-point scale where 1 means “not a fan at all” and 10 means a “super fan”. Sports listeners are defined in Edison Research’s Share of Ear as consuming sports audio content on their diary day.