• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, February 23, 2010

From the Super Bowl to the Winter Olympics, watching sports online has become a key component of fans' viewing experiences, according to a new sports and technology study from the Consumer Electronics Association.

This year, nearly one in five -- 18% -- of consumers planning to follow live events at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver plan to do so online. Twenty-five percent are planning on watching clips or highlights online, while 30% of consumers plan to follow the Games in a printed source, such as a newspaper or magazine. As a direct result, major Olympics sponsors are investing in online advertising like never before.

Visa put 40% of its Olympic marketing budget into digital, as did Coke, ensuring that every related initiative had both a social and mobile component.

Overall, sports fans are not restricting themselves to a single screen, digital channel, or even sporting event, according to CEA's study. They are increasingly following multiple events at once, while customizing their viewing experiences using various technologies and gadgets.

Nearly one in four fans follows stats from other live games while watching a game, match, or race. Plus, 16% watch games on multiple sets in the same room, while 14% have used split screens, picture in picture, or screen "quadrants" to watch multiple games on one screen.