Morning Consult is out with a new look at NFL fans — including their brand preferences and other defining audience traits.
Chevrolet is their favorite car brand, Heineken is their beer of choice, State Farm ranks highest among insurers, and Oreos is the leading snack. And when it comes to their brands of choice, NFL fans love the classics, namely sports, media, alcohol, and auto. “Of the 40 brands NFL fans like most relative to the general adult population,” a summary of the report says, “14 are sports-related, eight are media-related, seven are alcohol brands, and five are auto-related.”
The Morning Consult report consists of two sets of rankings: The 40 standout favorites — brands NFL fans prefer most relative to all adults — and a list of 28 individual category winners (auto manufacturer, soda, etc.) A series of charts break down demographic and psychographic traits that shed light on fans’ consumer profiles.
The report also finds that NFL fans are big consumers who seek new trends and products: 41% say they’re “always looking out for the latest trends.” That’s 11 points higher than the average American adult.
Morning Consult says these fans are also “more likely to be among the first to try new technology products and are willing to pay more for quality.”
These fans are also more politically engaged than the average American. NFL fans are nine points more likely to say they’re either “extremely” or “very” engaged in politics, but they’re split: 39% Democratic and 33% Republican.
Morning Consult’s report defines NFL fans as U.S. adults who have a “very” favorable opinion of the NFL. The surveys were collected between July 1, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2024 among 14,237 U.S. adults.
The 2024 Westwood One NFL Listening Study reveals — according to a season-long Nielsen analysis of PPM tuning for the 2023-2024 season — that a total of 64 million people listen to the NFL on the network.
Among the study’s key findings: Sports listeners are more passionate, which enhances the impact of audio commercials; the NFL on AM/FM offers mass reach; listeners are busy, on-the-go people whose “best available screen” is the car radio; and they’re desirable consumers, young and employed with spending power. NFL football on the radio also amplifies the reach and frequency of a related TV campaign.