N-Score, a new measurement tool from Nielsen developed in collaboration with E-Poll Market Research, an innovative consumer research firm specializing in the evaluation and measurement of celebrities, brands and media properties. The N-Score rates the brand impact of professional athletes and sports personalities to enable advertisers to make strong marketing decisions on commercial endorsements. Currently, N-Score is available for more than 1,000 individuals on both a national basis and 30 local markets. N-Score gauges the effects of positive and negative news about athletes and sports personalities. Polls are fielded regularly as news or events warrant), with data going back eight years. The data can be broken out by age, sex, and demographic compositions to help marketers identify the most effective endorsers to audience segments.

With an N-Score of 262Manning ranked top among playoff quarterbacks, followed by the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees (166) and the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady (131). Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick, the football comeback story of the year, had a national N-Score of just 16, reflecting lingering public displeasure with his conviction on dog fighting charges.

“N-Score represents the latest step in Nielsen’s ongoing commitment to comprehensively measuring consumer engagement and providing advertisers and marketers an important new tool to make more informed and more precise decisions,” said Stephen Master, Vice President, Nielsen Sports. “By combining our research and expertise, which segments consumers by demographic attributes, and E-Poll’s industry-leading surveys about the value of celebrity endorsers, we’ve created a currency by which sporting figures’ effectiveness as endorsers can be measured and trended.”

About N-Score
The N-Score is derived from a model that factors in audience awareness of an athlete, the overall appeal of the athlete and 46 specific personal attributes such as leadership and trustworthiness. The national survey is administered to more than 1,100 people in the U.S. and the sample is representative of the general population based on gender, income, age and education.

NFC Rival Philadelphia Eagles were second in terms of total buzz volume, due in part to their signing of Michael Vick, who was atop the list of NFL player buzz.  This summer saw his release from prison, his reinstatement to the league, and his signing with the Eagles, and fans not shy about voicing their opinion on both sides of the issue.

In terms of television viewership, Pittsburgh, which kicked off this year’s season with Tennessee, continued to live up to its reputation as a football-crazed city, with the Steelers leading all teams in local markets ratings last season on their way to the Super Bowl. During 16 regular season games, the six-time Super Bowl champs were watched on average by 36.8% of Pittsburgh households.

[update: For the season opener on 9/10/09 - the Steelers' hometown viewership was 49.6%]

Last Thursday, when the Eagles announced the signing of Michael Vick during a preseason game, it set off a media storm locally and nationally. The game itself was seen by 647,000 viewers in Philadelphia, a 63% increase over the Eagles’ first pre-season game in 2008. Recent online buzz was also high. According to Nielsen Buzzmetrics, the August buzz surrounding Vick overshadowed chatter following his release from prison earlier in the year.

Whether or not Michael Vick is able to rehabilitate his image, the best news for the Eagles may be that despite a risky signing, reports say they have retained all of their corporate sponsors. In fact, Vick has already had an indirect affect on the exposure of Eagles sponsors: his press conference delivered exposure time not only for the backdrop sponsor, but also for the naming rights sponsor of the Eagles’ practice facility which hosted the event.

Just as the buzz began to subside around Michael Vick, news broke on Tuesday afternoon that Brett Favre, after stating more than once that he’d stay retired, was on a plane to the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp, pushing online discussion to levels nearly as high as Michael Vick. Favre’s press conference was seen live on national cable and local broadcast television.

Minnesota television is still buzzing. “Brett Favre” was referenced 452 times on TV in the market alone on August 18-19, according to Nielsen Grabix, which monitors closed captioning. The Vikings and their sponsors are no doubt hoping that the increased interest Favre brings will translate to more eyeballs for their ads and signage. Last year, in his first “un-retirement” with the NY Jets, Favre contributed to a 17% boost in New York viewership compared to the year prior.

With these two signings Philadelphia and Minnesota proved that they were teams willing to take calculated risks which delivered increased exposure for their sponsors, and they hope in the end, a Super Bowl.