With fall right around the corner, fans across the US are gearing up for one of the biggest cultural moments of the year: the 2025 NFL season.
For advertisers, the NFL season translates into unmatched reach and engagement. But what makes NFL fandom unique is its geography. Fans identify with their local team and take pride in regional rivalries.
That’s where geo-targeted CTV advertising comes in — giving brands the ability to meet those fans where they are, both physically and emotionally. By combining the big-screen, live-game experience of TV with the precision and measurability of digital, marketers can win the season with campaigns tailored to local audiences.
Here’s your playbook for using geo-targeted CTV to reach fans where loyalty runs deepest.
Cowboys fans in Dallas, Packers fans in Green Bay, and Eagles fans in Philadelphia all share one thing: deep emotional ties to their teams and communities. That passion creates natural openings for advertisers to deliver tailored, local messages that drive action.
With geo-targeting on CTV, you can:
The result is a campaign strategy that feels personal for fans and efficient for advertisers. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, each market gets a message designed to resonate.
Geo-targeting is powerful on its own: 89% of marketers reported higher sales after adopting location-based marketing and geo-targeting ads. But when combined with the scale of CTV, the impact multiplies. CTV merges the emotional, big-screen experience of live sports with digital-style targeting and measurement, allowing advertisers to reach the right fans at the right time.
This capability is especially important given changing viewing habits. During the 2024-25 season:
This shift underscores how important it is for advertisers to activate on CTV in order to meet fans where they are already watching.
With tvScientific, advertisers gain direct access to premium inventory across ESPN, FOX, CBS, NBC, and more. That means you can reach national audiences at scale while tailoring messages to specific regions.
Highlights from recent tvScientific campaigns:
NFL fans are also a valuable audience. They are typically affluent, brand-loyal, and willing to spend. Reaching them on CTV ensures every impression connects to high-quality consumers while tying performance directly to measurable business outcomes.
Think of geo-targeted CTV like a winning playbook. Here is how marketers can set up for success this season:
Start your campaigns early to capture attention before the regular season kicks off. Fans are already thinking about football during the preseason, making this a prime opportunity to build awareness and excitement for your brand.
Launch targeted campaigns that align with local teams or fan bases. Test messaging and creative variations across different markets to see what resonates.
Pro Tip: Use the “home advantage” approach, offering localized promotions to win loyalty. For example, a regional grocer could run “Game Day Snack Deals” only in markets where they have stores.
Once the season starts, make sure your campaigns are reaching the right fans in the right places:
You can even capitalize on regional rivalries, creating campaigns that play into upcoming matchups like Bears vs. Packers or Giants vs. Patriots to make ads feel timely and relevant.
CTV campaigns are fast to launch, giving you flexibility to respond to real-time events. With tvScientific, the setup is even quicker and easier:
This speed allows brands to run time-sensitive promotions right before primetime games or swap creative at the last minute when teams make the playoffs.
To enhance performance, you can even use Proximity Targeting to serve ads near stadiums, bars, or fan zones to capture high-intent viewers exactly where they are most engaged.
One of the biggest advantages of CTV is the ability to measure results in real time. Unlike traditional linear TV, geo-targeted CTV lets you track conversions, website visits, app installs, and ROAS at a granular level. These insights allow marketers to see which creative, messages, or markets are performing best and make informed adjustments mid-campaign.
Pro tip: Comparing performance across designated market areas can reveal top-performing regions and inform strategies for similar markets, ensuring campaigns remain efficient and impactful throughout the season.
AI-powered bidding and dynamic placement help campaigns reach the right viewers at the right cost without constant manual intervention. Campaigns automatically adjust based on performance data, maximizing efficiency across CPM, CPA, and ROAS.
By combining geo-targeting insights with AI optimization, marketers can keep campaigns agile throughout the season, adjusting messaging and placement as team standings change or as engagement trends shift. This intelligence ensures campaigns continue to perform at peak efficiency while driving measurable business outcomes.
The NFL season is a collection of local moments that inspire pride, loyalty, and excitement in every market. For advertisers, this season presents the perfect time to combine the massive reach of CTV with the precision of geo-targeting.
With tvScientific, you can:
Ready to get started? Get in touch with us to kick off your geo-targeted CTV campaign before the season begins and set your brand up for measurable wins all season long.