The news: Live sports offers clear opportunities for advertisers to turn second-screen distractions into an advantage.

Eighty-four percent of US adults use another device while watching live sports, and 49% do so often or almost always, per Genius Sports.

• More than half of second-screeners are texting or messaging (59%) or on social media platforms (52%). Thirty-two percent are browsing, and 28% are shopping.
• Many are on sports-related surfaces, checking scores and stats, looking up players and teams, watching clips, engaging with news and commentary, or checking odds or betting.
• 9% are researching brands and products.

While this shows how live sports viewing is fragmented, consumers are accepting of ads during those moments.

• 70% say they notice ads on their phone and would engage with them while watching a live sports event.
• 40% want ads that are customized to what’s happening in the game.
• 45% say an ad is more relevant when it matches up with gameplay.

What it means: Second screens can extend TV ad engagement rather than cannibalize attention. Touchdowns, upsets, player performances, wins, and losses can be triggers for timely mobile messages or offers.

The massive jumps in engagement that streamers see during live sports events reinforce how such moments provide large, attentive audiences and strong acquisition opportunities. However, a blanket ad running multiple times throughout a broadcast will underperform next to a message that’s tied to a specific score or matchup.

Recommendations for brands: For those that lack the production speed or resources to react to events in real time, pre-build libraries of adjustable creative tied to potential game scenarios that can be quickly deployed once moments happen.

• Test mobile offers tied to specific gaming events, including shopping experiences with QR codes and clickable creative.
• Layer in personalization, such as choose-your-own-adventure options that let fans select which team they’re rooting for to customize their ad experience.
• Track how recall and purchase intent perform in comparison to static campaigns.
• Monitor tolerance for ads as more brands adopt contextual, real-time messaging during major sports events like the NFL playoffs.

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