This NFL Season, TEGNA & Locked On Podcast Network Can Take Your Brand to the End Zone   

By Bryan Goldmark, Head of National Sales & Brand Partnerships at Locked On 

The excitement surrounding the start of the NFL season each year is always palpable. Sports fans across the country are perfecting their fan-cave, stocking their fridge, and stressing over which jersey to wear to their first game of the year.

For the Locked On Podcast Network, there’s a different reason to get excited. Of course, there’s got to be a love for the game, but for both media sellers and the brands they’re speaking to, it’s time to start pumping out those sports-centered ad campaigns.

The big questions for those brands are where and how should I activate them to get the most out of my budget? An effective media mix is at the core of any successful campaign. Just like any GM knows, you have to balance your roster if you plan to win any games. Fortunately, TEGNA and Locked On have the perfect playbook in place for our partners. 

Linear TV ads within live games remain one of the most popular and effective ways to reach sports fans, but why? In a word, passion. A study from Ticketmaster in 2019 showed some staggering statistics on NFL fandom and how it shapes the daily lives of our audience. The average NFL fan spends 46 hours a month thinking, talking, or reading about their favorite NFL team. When their team is playing, 84% of respondents said they drop everything to watch the game. Four out of five NFL fans even said they have been a fan of their favorite team since they were born!

The level of passion we see from NFL fans is nearly impossible to recreate, which is why advertisers are so eager to tap into that energy and engagement after the touchdown celebration cuts to a commercial break. TEGNA, with its massive NFL offering, provides a huge lineup of games for our clients to tap into easily. 

How do advertisers reach NFL fans during the other hours each month when they’re following their team’s every move, analyzing last week’s game, and getting ready for next week’s matchup?  What happens to advertisers that find the cost of producing a TV ad to be too burdensome? Not to mention, TV spot costs can also balloon if you’re planning to air anywhere in the postseason, which begins to limit which advertisers can even afford to play the game at the most critical time in the season. According to Marketing Dive, ad prices in the Super Bowl increased 16% YOY from 2021 to 2022 alone. Sports radio coverage remains a great place for cost-effective mass reach but often lacks the level of engagement required to really move the needle.

In comes TEGNA’s very own Locked On Podcast Network.

Locked On built our network with one premise in mind, “Your Team, Every Day.” Founder of Locked On and voice of the Utah Jazz, David Locke, was on the ground with his team’s most passionate fans and he listened to their cries for more. They wanted more content and more insights for the only team they really care about, delivered by a local insider they trust.

Our network has grown to deliver nearly 200 podcasts across every major pro sport, including our largest individual network – the Locked On NFL Network. Consisting of 38 podcasts, the Locked On NFL Network includes 32 team-specific pods, draft, fantasy, league-wide shows, and more. Each show hones in on reaching the most passionate fans for each team, providing our partners with a one-of-a-kind daily touch point into their lives. These listeners don’t stop being fans when the game is over; Locked On is their lifeline to stay in the know.

Including a podcast campaign in your media plan isn’t nearly as burdensome as you might think. With nearly two in five Americans having listened to a podcast in the last month, it’s certainly a platform you might want to consider if you haven’t already. You wouldn’t be alone in doing so either, with 53% of media agencies and advertisers reporting they are considering using podcasts in campaigns in the next six months.

Locked On provides our partners with a full-service media experience, guiding them through best practices from frequency to creative solutions. Whether you’re looking for a hyper-local focus or national reach, tapping into live endorsements from hosts across the Locked On Network allows your product to speak for itself through firsthand reviews from a voice they trust. In fact, 49% of listeners believe that hosts use the products they mention in the show, providing instant trust and credibility with the consumers you want to reach. 

Going for the two-point conversion, this audience isn’t just engaging with the content either. Podcast listeners enjoy the ads they hear within their podcast, delivering the lowest skip rate across every medium, at only 12%. The Edison Research Podcast Super Listener Report also found that 86% of people who frequently listen to podcasts say they recall ads on podcasts more than any other channel, even more than social media.

Engagement leads to brand recall, and brand recall leads to purchase intent – 65% of avid podcast listeners say they have purchased a product or service from a brand they heard advertised on a podcast. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a growing DTC brand or an industry giant, our NFL Network partners from Nissan and State Farm to Athletic Greens and Shady Rays, have joined Locked On in providing exceptional advertising in a welcomed listening environment.

The secret play of combining a Locked On podcast campaign with a linear TV buy just might be as effective to win the game as the Philly Special. Believe it or not, a study from the Video Advertising Bureau positioned podcasting as the “peanut butter to TVs jelly.” The compliment of listening windows alone, with popular podcast listening hours falling Monday through Friday between 10a-3p, is also the window where linear TV falls short on reaching sports fans. The result of the study stated, “while TV drives outcomes throughout the entire funnel, adding podcasts to the media mix can build consideration and purchase intent.”

Local and national alike, this perfect playbook from TEGNA with Locked On can help our advertising partners create effective solutions that produce meaningful results with NFL fans everywhere.

Sound Good?

The power of the NFL presents a unique opportunity for brands to connect with passionate football fans across the country. With award-winning journalists and unparalleled coverage with the Locked On Podcast Network, TEGNA is ready to help your brand score a touchdown, no matter what business you’re in. Contact us today to get your marketing playbook drafted.