Summer is here and with it comes sun, fun, and a wealth of opportunities for advertisers to connect with sports fans. In fact, advertisers who air during summer sports programming reach 5.8X more households than those who only advertise at other times of the year.1 And with the MLB season in full swing, the NBA Finals underway, and the FIFA World Cup about to kick-off, this is a summer advertisers of all sizes won’t want to miss.
Here are three reasons why sports advertising is a non-negotiable this summer:
Increased attention and share of voice
Sports command attention in a way other genres cannot. Even at the height of summer, when travel is at its peak, 92% of Comcast households are watching sports.2 And with many competitors cutting back on summer ad spend, advertising during the summer gives brands the competitive edge of a +22% increase in share of voice.3
Summer sports advertisers also gain the benefit of more engaged and attentive audiences. Viewers are +8% more likely to pay attention to ads during sports than other content airing in the summer.1
Together, the increased visibility and attention enable advertisers to drive greater impact with every sports ad impression.
Expanded access, incremental audiences, and niche sports
Sports have always delivered engaged viewers at scale, but their continued expansion to streaming has unlocked incremental audiences for advertisers. MLB viewership is up +44% year over year,4 driven in part by improved access via streaming platforms, and nearly 80% of those viewers would have been missed with a traditional TV-only campaign.5 But activating on streamed sports is only one way to access new and incremental audiences.
Sports advertisers typically lean on the Big Four – NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL – as they account for a vast majority of sports ad impressions,6 but advertisers would be wise not to overlook other sports, especially since many fanbases often overlap.
This year, viewership for the NBA playoffs shot up +86%,7 and this heightened interest is expected to extend to the WNBA, with NBA superfans being +319% more likely to also be fans of WNBA.8 Meaning, when the NBA season ends next week, advertisers can look to the WNBA to stay connected with the NBA audience for the remainder of the summer.
This summer, other niche sports like tennis, golf, and Formula 1, which usually attract higher income audiences, are poised to deliver strong viewership and engagement as well.
Marquee events like Wimbledon, the men’s and women’s U.S. Open, and the Monaco Grand Prix create pathways to millions of niche sports fans.
As summer sports heat up, brands have plenty of action to get in on.
A global stage and the ‘beautiful game’
By far, the biggest opportunity for advertisers this summer is the 2026 FIFA World Cup which, much like the Olympics, provides a global stage for brand messaging. The 2022 FIFA World Cup delivered 5.6B impressions globally, and the final between Argentina and France was the most watched match ever in the U.S..9
With most of this year’s matches being played on U.S. soil and Team USA expected to make a strong showing, there’s a high likelihood that this tournament will break the previous record. In fact, 48% of Americans say they are more interested in the 2026 FIFA World Cup compared to 2022.10 And interest among residents in the host cities like Miami, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Seattle is up +121%.10 This presents a unique advantage to local advertisers in those cities as they can capitalize on the halo effect of being a FIFA World Cup host.
As the world tunes in to the ‘beautiful game*,’ advertisers have an enormous chance to leave a lasting impression on a global scale.
Maximizing ROI with multiscreen TV advertising
While summer often signals time off, for sports fans it delivers a continuous lineup of must-watch moments available across a multitude of screens and platforms. To maximize campaign reach, a multiscreen TV approach is an absolute necessity.
Traditional TV, which accounts for 75% of all sports viewing,11 is the foundation to any successful campaign, while streaming bolsters advertising efforts delivering valuable incremental households. Together, they are especially effective at driving 2.2X higher ad recall (compared to social).12
Brands that leverage a multiscreen TV sports campaign are best positioned to make an impact this summer and beyond.
Are you ready to get in on the action this summer? Contact us today.
*The beautiful game is a nickname for association football (soccer in the U.S.).
Sources:
1. Comcast aggregated analysis of 82,000+ campaigns during sports content. January – December 2025.
2. Tvision Panel. P18+ FY 2025. Comcast aggregated viewership data. FY 2025.
3. Comcast Aggravated Viewership data combined with Ad Exposure Data from TV + Streaming campaigns, 2024, Summer= June – August. Prior to Summer = March – April.
4. Sports Business Journal, “Audience Analysis: MLB up bit to start season: Derby finishes with 19.3 millions viewers,” May 2026.
5. Comcast internal analysis of sports streaming campaigns, FY 2025.
6. Comcast Aggregated Sports Ad Exposure data. January – December 2025.
7. NBA, “2026 NBA Playoffs deliver most-watched 1st round in 33 years,” May 2026.
8. Comcast Aggregated Analysis of sports heavy viewers within their designated seasons (preseason, regular + postseason). Top 10 shown.
9. FIFA, “FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Global Engagement & Audiences Report,” 2023.
10. Sports Business Journal, “Study shows surging U.S. interest in 2026 World Cup,” March 2026.
11. Comcast Advertising, “TV Makes Memories 2026: Why TV Is the Catalyst for Brand Impact and Consumer Action,” March 2026.
