Football once again proved to be the backbone of television advertising in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, with new data from iSpot showing that both the NFL and college football expanded their reach and attracted more ad spending compared to a year ago.
According to iSpot’s quarterly analysis, NFL programming generated more than 12 percent year-over-year growth in national TV ad impressions during Q3, while college football saw an even larger increase of over 16 percent. Advertising dollars followed suit: estimated national TV ad spending during NFL broadcasts rose by 9.7 percent from Q3 2024, while college football games posted a 22.5 percent gain.
The data proves football’s continued dominance in the linear TV ad marketplace, where live sports remain one of the few categories capable of delivering mass reach in real time. For advertisers, football represents a rare combination of large, engaged audiences and premium ad inventory that continues to deliver measurable value despite broader fragmentation across the media landscape.
Beyond sports, news programming continued to play a major role in attracting advertisers. iSpot found that news-related programs, including morning shows, accounted for nine of the top 20 slots for total TV ad impressions in the quarter. Many of those programs ranked higher than they did a year earlier, signaling that viewers continue to turn to live news as part of their daily routines even amid the rise of streaming and on-demand content.
The report also noted strong activity from certain brand categories and language segments. Quick-service restaurant (QSR) advertisers were the most-seen brand category during six of the 10 highest-reach programs in the third quarter, underscoring the sector’s heavy reliance on top-rated live and appointment-viewing shows to maintain brand awareness.
Spanish-language programming showed notable growth as well. Ad impressions from Spanish-language networks increased from 4.4 percent to 4.7 percent of all TV impressions year-over-year, led by Univision, which boosted its reach by 10 percent compared to Q3 2024.
