With sold out ad inventory for this year’s Super Bowl and such a diverse and massive pack of consumers expected to tune in, which advertisers stand the best chance of capturing the audience and getting the greatest return on their investment?

The great majority of U.S. households – 9 out of 10 – tell Nielsen they will be watching Super Bowl XLV at home or at a friend’s or relative’s house instead of watching it from a restaurant or bar.

Last year’s Super Bowl was the most watched TV program in U.S. history. With 106.5 million viewers, the game supplanted the long-time leading final episode of M*A*S*H (which had 105.5 million viewers in 1983). Will this year’s NFL championship game beat the record again?

Nielsen’s “Year in Sports 2010″ reveals that households earning more than $100,000 are more likely to watch major sporting events like the Super Bowl, World Series or World Cup.

Nielsen’s new N-Score rates the brand impact of professional athletes and sports personalities to enable advertisers to make strong marketing decisions on commercial endorsements.

The NFL claimed the top four spots in the rankings for C3, which measures the commercials watched both live and with three days DVR playback.

About 64 million people – or about a third of all U.S. Internet users – visited a World Cup-related website such as ESPN.com, Univision.com, FIFA.com, or Yahoo! Sports.

Knowing that gamers are among the most engaged consumers when playing an online or console game, we’ve been looking closely at the impact of in-game ads on their buying habits.

According to The Nielsen Sports Media Exposure Index, the Cowboys were still the most popular NFL team in America last season.

An estimated 111.6 million U.S. viewers watched at least six minutes of the 2010 World Cup on English or Spanish language networks, according to an analysis by The Nielsen Company.