{"id":906647,"date":"2026-11-05T10:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T10:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/906647\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T10:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T10:10:09","slug":"nielsen-shows-radios-strength-in-key-college-basketball-markets-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/906647\/","title":{"rendered":"Nielsen Shows Radio\u2019s Strength In Key College Basketball Markets. | Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest in Nielsen Scarborough\u2019s fandom index reports \u2014 following those for the NFL<\/a>, college football<\/a> and the NBA<\/a> \u2014 focuses on local college basketball<\/a>, spotlighting the 20 markets with the most engaged fan bases for the sport, for both men\u2019s and women\u2019s programs.<\/p>\n

As with earlier reports, Nielsen Scarborough\u2019s ranking reflects the importance of fandom metrics including radio listening, TV viewership, streaming, social media activity, game attendance, apparel purchases and overall interest level.<\/p>\n

Leading the list are Lexington and Louisville, KY, home to the University of Kentucky Wildcats and the University of Louisville Cardinals, respectively. According to Nielsen, both DMAs show heavy engagement with radio and digital streaming. That\u2019s also true for fans of the Iowa State University Cyclones and University of Iowa Hawkeyes, in third-ranked Des Moines\/Ames, IA. All three also score high in the other five metrics.<\/p>\n

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Also in the top five are Raleigh-Durham, NC \u2014 home to Duke, UNC and NC State \u2014 and Indianapolis, IN, with basketball powerhouses Butler, Indiana and Purdue. Other standout DMAs making the cut for the top 20 include Birmingham, AL, Omaha, NE, Knoxville, TN, Kansas City, MO, Syracuse, NY and Columbus, OH. \u201cMid-tier Southeast and Midwest markets frequently outperform larger metropolitan areas in concentrated passion,\u201d Nielsen\u2019s report says.<\/p>\n

The analysis also notes how high fan interest manifests differently depending on the market, with team apparel purchasing most important to fans in Columbus and Omaha, while live event attendance and streaming platforms index highest in Raleigh-Durham. Additionally, it points out that smaller markets such as Birmingham and Knoxville tend to generate higher merchandise sales than DMAs with massive media hubs such as Atlanta, proving that deep local affinity often generates higher marketing ROI than sheer audience size.<\/p>\n

\u201cNielsen\u2019s Local College Basketball Fandom Index proves that college basketball enthusiasm is a multi-platform phenomenon,\u201d the report says. \u201cAs viewership continues its rapid upward trajectory across both men\u2019s and women\u2019s games, understanding these distinct regional nuances will empower brands and media networks to craft smarter, higher-impact campaigns throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest in Nielsen Scarborough\u2019s fandom index reports \u2014 following those for the NFL, college football and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906648,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[402,7056,398,400,401,3,99],"class_list":["post-906647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-free","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaabasketball","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906647\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}