“Focus on the Family” earned 33.4% of total Super Bowl buzz in a two-month period ending January 31st. ManCrunch achieved 6% of the total online buzz in that time, even though its commercial will not air during the Super Bowl after CBS declined to run it. Similarly, Pepsi is the second most discussed advertiser associated with the Super Bowl in the last two months, despite company plans to not advertise the brand during this year’s game.

“The early buzz data makes one thing clear — controversy drives conversation,” said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of digital strategy at The Nielsen Company. “Both the anti-abortion ad and the gay-themed ad have triggered significant levels of conversation. Other advertisers looking to drive buzz on top of their ads may need to work a bit harder to navigate around the controversial content.”

Even though the “Focus on the Family” ad has earned the most online buzz, 75% of it is not directly linked to the organization. Consumers instead often refer to it as the “Tim Tebow ad” or the “Tim Tebow pro-life ad” without directly mentioning “Focus on the Family.”

The emergence of hot-button social issues alters the landscape of where Super Bowl marketing is discussed. While online sports communities remain a force in the Super Bowl marketing dialogue, political message boards are driving 21% of the buzz.

There’s a reason why products, brands, and issues associated with the Super Bowl generate so much hype. According to Nielsen’s historical data, ten Super Bowls rank among the 20 highest rated U.S. broadcasts since 1961. Meanwhile, the top 50 sports broadcasts of all time include 40 Super Bowls – meaning only three of the game’s telecasts do not make the list.

Last year’s game was the most viewed Super Bowl ever with an average of 98.7 million viewers. It was the fourth consecutive year of overall viewership growth since Super Bowl XXXIX was viewed by 86.1 million in 2005. The trend is also clear when broken down by men and women.

According to the report, sports fans turned to the computer screen in overwhelming numbers to complement TV viewership. Nielsen estimates that 81 million people in the U.S. visited sports websites each month in 2009. Fans used the internet to track all the major storylines in sports, from A-Rod’s steroid admission, to Tiger’s very public downfall, and everything in between:

“The data reveal that we are living in an incredible time for sports consumption,” said Stephen Master, VP of Nielsen Sports. “Leagues have used websites, social networks, and smartphones to create a virtual sports bar for fan dialogue to help the buzz surrounding major televised sporting events.”

Download The Changing Face of Sports Media, which includes a breakdown of TV, online, advertising statistics for each major sport.

The Nielsen Company looked back at the four Stanley Cup Finals match-ups that have gone the full seven games since 2000 and in each case, Game 7 was a ratings windfall. For example, games one through six of the 2006 finals between Edmonton and Carolina averaged 2.4 million viewers. Game 7, however, more than doubled that figure with 5.3 million viewers.

In 2003, when the New Jersey Devils finished off the Anaheim Ducks, Game 7 was watched by 7.2 million U.S. viewers on ABC. Not only did the game attract 140% more viewers than the average of the previous six games, but it was also (and still is) the most-watched Stanley Cup Finals game since at least 1992.

The “Game 7″ effect isn’t just limited to the NHL. When Detroit and San Antonio took the NBA Finals to the limit in 2005, Game 7 was watched by 65% more viewers than the series average to date. And in the eight MLB World Series or LCS matchups to go the full seven games, since 2000, Game 7 viewership overshadowed the rest of the series’ averages each time by anywhere from 74% to 94%.

Below are historical U.S. television ratings for NFL Kickoff Games since 2002.

In terms of TV ratings, the 2003 game, which drew 19.1 million U.S. viewers, is the year to beat.  Last year’s game attracted approximately 17.5 million viewers.

The highly-anticipated Summer Olympics in Beijing should continue the trend.  NBC will feature 1,400 hours of television coverage of the Summer Olympics with an additional 2,200 hours to be streamed online. 

The growth in sports programming comes on the heels of a trying time for entertainment programming.