Xperi says connected-car listening increased around live football coverage during the NFL’s opening Sunday on Sept. 13. The date marked the first full Sunday of the 2026 regular season, when most of the league’s 32 teams played their opening games, concentrating fan attention across multiple U.S. markets.
The DTS AutoStage Broadcaster Portal analyzed real-time connected-car data from flagship radio stations carrying live coverage for 12 NFL teams. A flagship station is a team’s primary local radio outlet, which typically anchors game coverage for a wider network of affiliated stations.
Across the aggregated sample, the stations recorded an average 60% increase in their overall Sunday audience share compared with previous weeks. Xperi reported an average 111% audience increase heading into kickoff and a 152% increase after the games as drivers stayed tuned for highlights, player reactions and analysis.
Xperi said the results demonstrate the continuing value of the vehicle dashboard for live local sports coverage and football broadcasts’ ability to attract listeners before, during and after games. The figures reflect connected-car listening captured through DTS AutoStage rather than the entire AM/FM radio audience, and Xperi did not provide raw audience totals or identify the 12 stations in its published analysis.
You can read Xperi’s full analysis here.
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