health
Podcast Advertising for Sports and Fitness Brands
Sports and fitness podcast listeners are among the most commercially valuable audiences in any medium. Sports is the second-largest podcast content genre by advertising revenue, according to the IAB’s U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study. More than three quarters of sports fans who hear an audio ad take action, and more than half make a purchase. For brands in athletic wear, supplements, fitness apps, and sports equipment, podcast advertising for sports and fitness brands is not an experimental channel. It is where the buyers already are.
A Premium Audience Across Both Categories
Sports and fitness podcasts attract distinct listener profiles, and both over-index on qualities that matter to advertisers.
Sports podcasts skew heavily male. Nielsen’s Podcasting Today report from August 2024 found approximately 87% of sports podcast audiences are male. They are also more educated, more employed, and more affluent than sports fans who watch video or listen to AM/FM sports radio, according to the Sports Audio Report from SiriusXM Media, GroupM, and Edison Research.
Health and fitness podcasts attract a different profile. Nielsen found approximately 63% of health and fitness podcast audiences are female. Research from SiriusXM Media found that 93% of health and wellness podcast listeners took action after hearing a podcast ad, and 1 in 2 are willing to spend substantially on health-related products. These are not passive browsers. They already have a financial commitment to their health.
Sports Podcast Listeners Outspend Other Media Audiences
The Sports Audio Report’s purchase behavior data is direct evidence of why brands invest heavily in sports audio. Sports podcast listeners spend an average of $321 per year on sports merchandise. Sports video viewers spend $185. The podcast listener spends 73% more than the video viewer on the same category of goods.
The same report found that 68% of sports podcast listeners would buy products endorsed by athletes they like, compared to 48% of sports video viewers. More than 75% of sports fans took action after hearing a sports audio ad, and more than 50% made a purchase. Those are conversion rates most digital channels would envy.
The reason is attention. Podcast listening is an active choice. A sports fan who plays a 45-minute game recap or a training show is in a focused, high-engagement state. That attention transfers directly to the ads placed in that context.
Why Sports Commands Real Advertising Dollars
Sports is not just popular with listeners. It is popular with advertisers. The IAB’s U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study found that sports was the second-largest content genre by podcast ad revenue in 2023, accounting for 13% of the industry’s total. Only comedy ranked higher, at 17%. That 13% share translates to roughly $247 million in sports-attributed podcast ad revenue in a single year.
Total US podcast advertising revenue grew to $2.4 billion in 2024, a 26.4% year-over-year increase, according to IAB data reported by Barrett Media. Sports podcasts continue to attract a large share of that new money, and the category’s CPM rates reflect the competition. Health and fitness podcasts averaged $24 CPM in September 2024, above the industry-wide average of $21.37, according to Libsyn Ads transaction data reported by Sounds Profitable.
For a brand evaluating where to put budget, high CPM in a category signals something useful: the audience is worth competing for, and the advertisers already in the space are seeing results that justify the price.
How Sports and Fitness Brands Win on Podcast
The brands that get the most from sports and fitness podcast advertising share a few common approaches.
They choose hosts who actually use the product. Athletic Greens, now AG1, built one of the largest podcast advertising footprints of any supplement brand by partnering with hosts in health, fitness, and self-improvement. Their most effective partnerships, including long runs with Andrew Huberman and Tim Ferriss, succeeded because those hosts could speak from personal experience. That kind of organic alignment is worth more than any scripted announcement. For a deeper look at what separates a genuine endorsement from a read, see the guide on what makes a podcast host endorsement authentic.
They use promo codes to track exactly what works. A supplement brand running across 20 shows needs to know which three are driving the conversions. Unique promo codes at the show level answer that question precisely. They also give the listener an immediate reason to act while the motivation is fresh. The podcast promo codes and vanity URLs guide covers setup and attribution in full.
They think in audience fit, not audience size. A tightly focused endurance running show with 15,000 dedicated subscribers may outperform a general sports megacast with ten times the audience, if the product is a running nutrition brand. The Audience Finder makes this matching process faster and more precise.
Matching Show Type to Product Category
The split between sports and health and fitness podcasts is meaningful, and the right show type depends on what you sell.
- Athletic wear and equipment: Sports shows first. The listener is already spending on gear and thinking about performance gains.
- Supplements and protein: Health and fitness shows are a strong starting point, especially for recovery and wellness products. Sports shows work well for performance supplements with a male-skewing buyer.
- Fitness apps and wearables: Both categories are viable. Consider where the host audience already uses technology in their training routines.
- Recovery and sleep products: Health and fitness shows, particularly those covering endurance sports or holistic wellness.
- Sports betting and fantasy platforms: Sports shows specifically. The listener base has direct purchase intent for this vertical and expects these advertisers.
Matching category to show type is not about finding any large audience. It is about finding the audience already predisposed to believe your product belongs in their routine. To explore which podcast advertising strategy makes sense as you scale, see the full network scaling guide.
What Podcast Advertising for Sports and Fitness Brands Means in Practice
Sports and fitness brands use podcast advertising to reach high-intent buyers in a focused listening environment. Sports podcasts deliver purchasers who outspend video audiences by nearly two to one on merchandise. Health and fitness shows convert at 93% listener action rates. Host-read ads in both categories consistently outperform banner and social formats on recall and purchase intent, and the category CPM rates remain competitive relative to the audience quality delivered.
Ready to Reach the Audience That Is Already Buying?
Sports and fitness listeners are not passive. They invest in their performance, their recovery, and their gear, and they trust the hosts who guide them through it. Podcast advertising puts your brand into that trusted environment with a format that drives real action.
Explore the Audience Finder to match your brand with the right shows, or get started with Wildcast to launch your first campaign.
Sources
- IAB U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study 2024, prepared by PwC. https://www.iab.com/insights/us-podcast-advertising-revenue-study-2024/
- Sports Audio Report, SiriusXM Media / GroupM / Edison Research, April 2024. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/preview-the-sports-audio-report-from-siriusxm-media-groupm-and-edison
- Sports Audio Report Demographics at Play, SSRS / Edison Research, 2024. https://ssrs.com/insights/the-sports-audio-report-demographics-at-play/
- SiriusXM Media, Podcast Ads for Health Products: What Works and Why. https://www.siriusxmmedia.com/insights/podcast-ads-for-health-products-what-works-and-why
- Nielsen Podcasting Today, August 2024. https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/Nielsen-Podcasting-Today-Aug-2024.pdf
- Libsyn Ads, Podcast Advertising Rates September 2024, via Sounds Profitable. https://soundsprofitable.com/press-release/libsyn-unveils-september-2024-podcast-advertising-rates/
- IAB, Podcast Advertising Revenue 2024, via Barrett Media, April 2025. https://barrettmedia.com/2025/04/17/podcast-advertising-revenue-grew-more-than-25-in-2024-new-iab-data-shows/