Nielsen Wire » sports websites http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire Consumer Insights, News, Research & Reports Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:19:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 In November, Sports Websites Continue Audience Surge http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/in-november-sports-websites-continue-audience-surge/ http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/in-november-sports-websites-continue-audience-surge/#comments Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:38:41 +0000 admin http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=6062 More than 78 million Americans visited sports websites in November, a 5% increase over the same month last year. 
 
Yahoo! Sports was the top sports site, drawing nearly 23 million unique visitors last month – a 2% jump from a year ago.  In November, the average Yahoo! Sports user spent 20% more time on the site, compared to last year.
 
ESPN.com placed second in Nielsen’s ranking, but showed the greatest increase in unique visitors (+12%).  ESPN’s users also logged on for 20% more sessions last month than in November 2007.
 
NFL Internet Network, FOX Sports on MSN, and CBS Sports rounded out the top five.

Top 5 U.S. Sports Websites: November 2008

Rank Website Unique Visitors % Change
Vs.
November 2007
1 Yahoo! Sports 22,788,000 2%
2 ESPN 22,198,000 12%
3 NFL Internet Network 14,072,000 0%
4 FOX Sports on MSN 13,766,000 -10%
5 CBS Sports 12,939,000 -7%
  All U.S. Sports Websites 78,499,000 5%
Source: The Nielsen Company (November 2007 and November 2008).

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in USA Today.

]]> http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/in-november-sports-websites-continue-audience-surge/feed/ 1 2008: A Record-Breaking Year Of Sports Viewing http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/2008-a-record-breaking-year-of-sports-viewing/ http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/2008-a-record-breaking-year-of-sports-viewing/#comments Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:09:27 +0000 admin http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=5301 Was 2008 the best sports year ever?  At least in terms of viewer interest, there’s plenty of evidence to support that argument.  Consider these TV sports highlights from 2008:

-The most-watched global event ever (2008 Beijing Summer Olympics: 4.7 billion viewers)

-The most-watched Super Bowl ever (Giants-Patriots, Super Bowl XLII: 97.5 million viewers)

-The most-watched cable broadcast of all time (Cowboys-Eagles, Monday Night Football: 18.6 million viewers)

-The most-watched cable golf event of all time (Tiger vs. Rocco, U.S. Open Playoff: 4.8 million viewers)

-The most-watched cable baseball game ever (Red Sox-Rays, ALCS Game 7: 13.4 million viewers)

-The most-watched NBA Finals in five years (Celtics-Lakers, NBA Championship Series average: 14.9 million viewers)

-The most-watched NHL regular season game in nine years; most-watched finals in five years (Winter Classic: 2.5 million viewers; Stanley Cup, Penguins–Red Wings average: 4.5 million viewers)

-The most-watched Wimbledon final in eight years (Federer-Nadal: 5.2 million viewers)

The surge in viewership could be attributed to the dramatic storylines behind these games and events, but Nielsen’s analysis shows that new technology is enhancing the sports fan’s experience:

-Ratings for sports events are 20% higher in homes with high-definition TV sets vs. total U.S.

-75 million people visited sports websites in October 2008

-11.6 million unique users logged more than 1.2 billion minutes on fantasy sports sites in 2008

-10.6 million U.S. mobile subscribers accessed sports content via the mobile Web in August 2008

View the full report.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in USA Today.

Take our poll.

]]> http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/2008-a-record-breaking-year-of-sports-viewing/feed/ 3 Top U.S. Sports Websites: September 2008 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/top-us-sports-websites-september-2008/ http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/top-us-sports-websites-september-2008/#comments Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:45:19 +0000 admin http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=2485 Yahoo! Sports was the number one-ranked sports website in September, edging past second-ranked ESPN.com, Nielsen Online reported Monday. 

Sports-related websites in the U.S. drew a total unique audience of 77.5 million visitors in September.

RANK WEBSITE UNIQUE AUDIENCE
(in 000s)
1 Yahoo! Sports 26,003
2 ESPN 22,834
3 FOX Sports on MSN 16,023
4 NFL Internet Network 15,037
5 CBS Sports 13,278
Source: Nielsen Online, NetView (September 1, 2008 – September 30, 2008).

View complete data on the top five sports websites.

]]> http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/top-us-sports-websites-september-2008/feed/ 0 Web Traffic To U.S. Sports Sites Grew in August http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/web-traffic-to-us-sports-sites-spiked-in-august/ http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/web-traffic-to-us-sports-sites-spiked-in-august/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:05:07 +0000 admin http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/?p=2007 Workplace traffic to U.S.-based sports websites was up by 26% in August, compared with traffic to online sports destinations in August 2007, Nielsen Online reported Thursday.

The Beijing Olympics and the start of fall football season may have had something to do with the spike in traffic, Jon Gibs, vice president, media analytics, Nielsen Online, noted.

“With broad interest in the Olympics, and the ramp up of the college and professional football seasons, August was a busy month for online sports fans,” Gibs said.  “The Web offered 24/7 access to news, results and video, and fans demonstrated a healthy appetite for information about their favorite athletes and teams.”

Overall, unique traffic to sports sites from workplaces grew from 33.4 million unique visitors in August 2007 to 42.3 million this August.

Working women made up a significant portion of that traffic, according to Nielsen.  The number of female unique visitors who visited sports-related websites from work in August grew by 37% — from 12 million in August 2007 to 16.4 million this August.  In comparison, sports sites drew 25.8 million male unique visitors this August — up by just 21% from 21.4 million visitors in August 2007.

Yahoo! Sports was the most popular online sports destination, attracting 18.7 million unique visitors at workplaces in August — a 112% increase over traffic to the site last August.  ESPN and FOX Sports on MSN rounded out the top three, with 11.9 million and 7.7 million unique visitors, respectively, according to Nielsen. 

NBC’s custom website, NBC Olympics, also attracted significant workplace traffic in August, drawing 13.8 million unique visitors — or 20% of the active at work Web population. 

Among the top ten sites, Fantasy Sports Ventures Network — up 285% over August 2007 — showed the largest growth in unique workplace visitors.

Website Unique Audience:
August 2007
(in 000s)		 Unique Audience:
August 2008
(in 000s)		 % Change
Yahoo! Sports 8,820 18,727 112%
ESPN 10,314 11,936 16%
FOX Sports on MSN 6,824 7,714 13%
SI Digital Sites 3,913 6,490 66%
CBS Sports 5,092 5,708 12%
NFL Internet Network 4,630 5,692 23%
MLB.com 5,521 5,486 -1%
AOL Sports 3,905 3,993 2%
Fantasy Sports Ventures Network 1,019 3,926 285%
Beijing2008.cn N/A 3,026 N/A
Sports Category 33,405 42,252 26%
Source: The Nielsen Company (August 1, 2008 – August 31, 2008).

View the full press release.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Vancouver Sun.

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