Sports Advertising Down 18% Year-to-Date: SMI

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NFL bucks trend while college football, soccer suffer

The Saints play the Raiders during a Monday Night Football game
NFL gamer are among a few sports growing during the pandemic (Image credit: NFL)

SMI said that national TV ad revenue is down 7% for January through September. News ad revenue is up 14%, while sports have been down 18%.

The NFL, which started its season on time and has had a handful of games rescheduled when players tested positive for the Coronavirus, is up 8% from a year ago. 

But other sports got kicked in the shins. Soccer is down 66% from 2019, when the women's World Cup was played. NCAA football was down 41%, not surprising given that many conferences cancelled their season or didn’t start playing till October.

Major League Baseball 40%, while tennis and Major League Baseball each were down 31%. Golf was 24% lower and the NBA was 22% while racing was off 18%.

The NCAA Men’s basketball tournament was lower 63% as the tournament was cancelled.

Standard Media Index

(Image credit: SMI)
Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.