In recent years, Connected TV (CTV) advertising has emerged as a dominant force in the sports marketing landscape, offering unprecedented opportunities to reach and engage passionate fans. With a projected 8.8 percent year-over-year rise in digital live sports viewership in 2025, per eMarketer, brands are increasingly turning to CTV to deliver winning campaigns.

By understanding the nuances of sports marketing and the power of fan engagement, advertisers can create CTV campaigns that resonate with viewers, foster brand loyalty, and deliver a strong return on investment (ROI).  

Read more to explore key strategies for maximizing your CTV sports advertising efforts.

Effective CTV advertising strategies that drive fan engagement

The meteoric rise in sports streaming is undeniable. The number of monthly U.S. sports streamers is projected to reach over 90 million by 2025—a 58 percent increase from 57 million in 2021, per Statista. To capitalize on this growing trend, advertisers must adopt effective strategies that resonate with sports enthusiasts.  

The unique personalization and creative capabilities offered on CTV platforms allow advertisers to capture attention and drive engagement like never before.

Engage fans with interactive experiences

CTV and streaming platforms offer opportunities for interactive experiences, such as polls, games, and choose-your-own ad options, that encourage fan participation and engagement. Interactive elements, like gamified ads or QR codes, offer new ways for fans to engage with content.  

For example, with CTV, quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands can run interactive ads that allow viewers to select their desired ad experience directly from their remote. Featuring noteworthy athletes and influencers, fans can toggle between gameday favorites like American classics, healthier options, or limited-time specialty items. As viewers make their selections, the ad can dynamically update to showcase the chosen meal, highlighting its ingredients, nutritional information, and/or simply visually appealing creative.  

This interactive experience engages viewers and provides valuable data on customer preferences, allowing the QSR brand to tailor future marketing campaigns and menu offerings to fans’ liking. These features provide fans with additional opportunities for product exploration and engagement beyond the initial ad experience, helping them make the ad experience theirs for increased brand recall.

Cater to fan favorites with personalized content

Tailored content based on individual fan preferences, such as favorite teams or players, enhances the viewing experience and builds lasting loyalty. Incorporating audience segmentation strategies into your campaigns allows brands to resonate with specific subgroups—like sports bettors, home entertainers, NFL viewers, and food delivery users—to resonate with fans as if the ad is truly meant for them.

By leveraging CTV's advanced targeting capabilities—such as, contextual targeting, behavioral targeting, demographic targeting, and geolocation targeting—brands can craft personalized campaigns that align with the audience’s specific interests and values, fostering stronger brand-fan connections.

For example, internet providers can run CTV sports ads recommending personalized internet plans based on viewer location, usage habits, and favorite sports teams. Similarly, grocery delivery services can reach home entertainers and football fans with exclusive, in-season food deals, ensuring that the messaging aligns with the viewer’s needs at exactly the right moment. By integrating personalized content, ads become more relevant and engaging, increasing the likelihood of conversion and brand loyalty.

Maximize reach with cross-screen content

To ensure that your CTV sports ads reach the maximum number of fans, it is essential to consider cross-screen strategies that span multiple devices, such as connected TVs, smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Reaching audiences across these platforms ensures consistent messaging throughout the day, whether fans are at home watching on a smart TV or streaming highlights on their phones. A unified narrative across screens drives brand lift by meeting fans wherever they are.  

With more than 10 percent of all fans and more than 20 percent of Millennials now watching sports on a tablet or phone, per Deloitte, the growing popularity of mobile devices and advancements in wireless connectivity underscore the importance of mobile-optimized ads.  

As fans increasingly second-screen—or use their phones and tablets while watching sports content—QR codes offer a powerful way to bridge the gap between traditional television advertising and digital engagement. QR code overlays encourage viewers to scan the code with their smartphones and be instantly redirected to a relevant landing page, website, app, call, or text.

This interactive element boosts click-through rates and conversions and provides valuable insights into viewer behavior, allowing advertisers to measure campaign effectiveness and optimize their strategies. As more consumers watch sports on their mobile devices, creating ads that seamlessly transition between screens can enhance the viewer experience and drive engagement.

For example, fitness brands can run CTV ad campaigns featuring popular athletes demonstrating a workout routine. Including a prominent QR code in the ad allows viewers to seamlessly transition to exclusive offers or bonus content on their mobile devices, encouraging interaction and providing actionable data. By optimizing for mobile viewing and incorporating cross-screen elements, fitness brands can drive conversions across a wide audience.

Welcome multicultural audiences with inclusive campaigns

Multicultural audiences are increasingly turning to streaming platforms to consume sports content, making CTV a powerful medium for reaching this demographic. In fact, U.S. multicultural audiences (African American, Asian American, and Hispanic American) are at least 17 percent more likely to have CTV streaming apps and four times as likely to stream sports content than the general market, per App Science's U.S. Multicultural Trends Report.

The growing influence of multicultural audiences is evident in the rising viewership numbers for U.S. mainstream sports events. Hispanic viewers for the NCAA Women's Championship skyrocketed by 354 percent between 2021 and 2024, and the percentage of Hispanic viewers for the Super Bowl and World Series grew from 10 percent in 2016 to 14 and 15 percent, respectively, per Nielsen.  

Beyond viewership, multicultural fans bring significant value to brands. Nielsen’s report reveals that Hispanic sports fans are 39 percent more likely to recommend a company and 37 percent more likely to feel loyal to a brand if it sponsors a sport they follow.  

CTV advertising enables brands to engage multicultural fans by crafting inclusive campaigns with culturally resonant content. Automotive brands, for example, can launch dual-captioned video campaigns featuring popular athletes or celebrities to resonate with both English-speaking and non-English-speaking audiences.

Incorporating multicultural targeting into your CTV strategy ensures your brand engages authentically across various segments. By leveraging CTV’s precise reach, you can tailor campaigns to engage culturally distinct audiences, such as Hispanic, Black, Asian, or LGBTQ+ Americans. Additionally, CTV advertisers can then layer on other subsegments—such as the aforementioned sports bettors and NFL viewers, for example—to align their messaging with each subgroup’s values and interests, leading to deeper engagement and stronger brand loyalty.

Engage sports fans on CTV with Sabio

With the rise of streaming platforms and the shift in viewership dynamics, advertisers have a unique opportunity to connect with fans during, and surrounding, major sporting events.  

Partnering with Sabio provides access to an expansive, engaged audience of sports fans across major events throughout the year. Sabio’s CTV advertising partners gain direct access to:

• Over 173 million and 68 million unique mobile and CTV sports fans, respectively, providing a vast audience reach that can be tailored to high-impact campaigns.
• Event-specific reach for unparalleled exposure during key tentpoles, including:  ‍
  • Super Bowl: Reach over 48 million NFL fans on CTV, with 24 million NFL households primed and ready for ads that enhance their game-day experience. ‍
  • March Madness: Connect with over 46 million college basketball fans on CTV and 23 million NCAA households during one of the most high-energy tournaments in the country.
  • ‍NBA Finals: Engage over 36 million NBA fans on CTV, positioning your brand front and center in over 18 million households during high-stakes playoff action.
• Data-driven targeting and personalization: Sabio’s CTV and mobile data provide insights to desired audiences based on their unique interests and behaviors, enhancing relevance and impact.  
• Cost efficiency and interactive features: Maximize ROI with budget-conscious, interactive solutions like QR codes and product galleries that captivate your audience.  
• Platform-agnostic flexibility: Sabio’s cross-device approach ensures seamless engagement with fans across all platforms and channels.

Sabio’s in-house creative studio and dedicated CTV experts work with brands and agencies to tailor campaigns for specific objectives, ensuring a memorable and effective fan connection at every major event.  

Partner with Sabio to navigate the dynamic sports advertising landscape and achieve meaningful, year-long engagement.  

Connect with Sabio

Get in touch with our team of CTV experts to discuss how you can improve your brand or client’s fan engagement.