• by Kate Kaye , January 14, 2003

The NFL Internet Network of sites scored linebacker-sized leaps in site visitors and ad sales during 2002. But it's more than the prospect of an exciting game in San Diego at this year’s Super Bowl that is driving that success. It's crowd-pleasing content offerings and behavioral changes among users.

Ad sales for the site network, which encompasses NFL.com, SuperBowl.com, CBS Sportsline.com and the NFL’s 32 team sites, were up more than 10% in Q3 2002 over Q3 2001. Plus, Nielsen//NetRatings calculated a surge in unique visitors to the group of sites during November of last year to 11.28 million unique users, a rise of 48% over November 2001. Visitor numbers to other sports league site networks such as the NBA Internet Network and NHL.com pale in comparison.

The company attributes this recent growth to greater online ad adoption by traditional advertisers, use of innovative ad formats, and perhaps even more significant, a transition in the way sports lovers consume media.

“What you’re starting to see is behavioral changes in how people consume media,” explains president of sales and marketing at sports media company Sportsline.com, Mark Mariani, adding, “behavioral changes lead to larger and more loyal audiences.” Sportsline.com develops, hosts, maintains and sells ads exclusively for the NFL site network.

Scoring is updated on the sites seconds after points are made, so there’s no need to “be held hostage” to the radio or TV, says Mariani. “When there’s a shift in media consumption, advertisers need to find a way to get in front of that.”

Advertisers began vying for positions on SuperBowl.com, “the only place in the last eight years to find Super Bowl game footage,” according to Evan Kamer, senior director of new media and publishing for the NFL, as early as September. This year, Pepsi has replaced Coca Cola as both the title sponsor of the event itself, as well as the SuperBowl.com site. Other advertisers hoping to reach football fiends throughout the site and the ABC TV broadcast include Cadillac, Coors, Motorola and Gatorade.

The Super Bowl’s “pop culture and pageantry” attracts a somewhat broader audience than the network’s typical 18-24 year old, upscale male users, adds Kamer. This prompts more mass marketers to advertise on SuperBowl.com.

On-air mentions, TV ads and prime content placement on AOL’s sports homepage are all major drivers of traffic to the site network, but the real stimulus is the content itself. NFL.com’s analyst commentaries, player diaries, live game audio casts and 75 unique video pieces per week (the bulk of NFL video runs on SuperBowl.com and NFL.com exclusively) keep users coming back on a regular basis. The network’s fantasy football games entice core fans to return frequently to check scores and change lineups. Email newsletters also propel site traffic to the network, which has roughly ten million registrants in its database.

“To be able to go up year over year almost 50%, I think it’s got to be more about the content,” stresses Kamer, who believes users are spending less time getting their football fix on TV or radio and more time on the NFL site network.

Concludes Mariani, “Bigger brands recognize if you don’t get them on the Internet, you wont get them at all.”