Commentary
Hey, Sports Fans. It's Football Time!
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 4, 2003
A special ComScore release, featuring the NFL season kickoff, provides some timely insight, noting that though the Sports category has traditionally relied on advertising dollars, dynamic content, such as game highlights and video not available on TV, as well as hugely popular online fantasy leagues, are providing important new revenue streams.
48 million Americans visited a site in the Sports category and data show that Sports content is extremely popular among workplace Internet users. More than 38 percent of the at-work Internet population visited a Sports site in July (compared to 27 percent for at-home and 31 percent for university Internet users).
Sports Category Unique Visitors (x000)
July
2003
| All Locations | Home | Work | University | |
| Total Internet Users | 147,455 | 127,803 | 48,993 | 10,319 |
| Sports Category | 47,958 | 34,266 | 18,645 | 3,195 |
| ESPN | 16,695 | 10,724 | 7,640 | 1,223 |
| MLB.COM | 7,876 | 5,356 | 2,757 | 485 |
| Yahoo! Sports | 7,845 | 5,621 | 3,086 | 550 |
| Sportsline.com Sites | 7,655 | 5,424 | 2,586 | 357 |
| AOL Proprietary Sports | 7,382 | 5,445 | 1,996 | 336 |
| SI.COM | 5,377 | 3,358 | 2,314 | 297 |
| NBA Internet Network | 4,091 | 2,483 | 1,625 | 364 |
| NASCAR.COM | 4,014 | 3,119 | 1,216 | 166 |
| OCSN.COM | 2,027 | 1,214 | 725 | 196 |
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Average weekly visitation to the NFL Internet Group, which includes NFL.com as well as individual sites for every team in the league, increased by 94 percent in the first three weeks of August versus the previous six weeks. It appears that Sports fans' focus on football may have come at the expense of other major sports leagues - MLB.com and the NBA Internet Group saw declines of 13 and 36 percent respectively. Yahoo! Sports, a popular destination among NFL fantasy league participants, experienced a nine percent increase in traffic in the same period.
Sports Category
Average Weekly Unique Visitors (x000)
First Three Weeks of August vs. Previous Six Weeks
| 6 Weeks Ending Aug. 3 | 3 Weeks Ending Aug. 24 | % Change | |
| Total Internet Users | 126,184 | 124,469 | -1% |
| Sports Category | 24,054 | 24,136 | 0% |
| ESPN | 7,440 | 6,695 | -10% |
| Yahoo! Sports | 4,026 | 4,371 | 9% |
| NFL Internet Group | 2,156 | 4,172 | 94% |
| Sportsline.com Sites | 3,044 | 3,062 | 1% |
| MLB.COM | 3,138 | 2,741 | -13% |
| AOL Proprietary Sports | 2,984 | 2,833 | -5% |
| NASCAR.COM | 2,022 | 2,024 | 0% |
| SI.COM | 1,894 | 1,875 | -1% |
| NBA Internet Network | 1,697 | 1,092 | -36% |
| OCSN.COM | 643 | 941 | 46% |
Source: comScore Media Metrix
An average of more than 300,000 Internet users per week visited DallasCowboys.com between August 4th and August 24th. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers - teams well known for their highly loyal and active fan bases - were the second and third most popular NFL team sites in the first three weeks of August.
Top 15 NFL Team Sites
Average Weekly Unique Visitors (000)
First Three Weeks of August vs. Previous Six
Weeks
| 6 Weeks Ending Aug. 3 | 3 Weeks Ending Aug. 24 | % Change | |
| Total Internet Users | 126,184 | 124,469 | -1% |
| NFL Internet Group | 2,156 | 4,172 | 94% |
| Dallascowboys.Com | 208 | 316 | 52% |
| Steelers.Com | 98 | 209 | 113% |
| Packers.Com | 150 | 235 | 57% |
| Clevelandbrowns.Com | 81 | 169 | 110% |
| Philadelphiaeagles.Com | 56 | 151 | 167% |
| Detroitlions.Com | 91 | 148 | 62% |
| Redskins.Com | 80 | 165 | 106% |
| Miamidolphins.Com | 77 | 144 | 88% |
| Buffalobills.Com | 47 | 125 | 166% |
| Buccaneers.Com | 102 | 147 | 45% |
| Chicagobears.Com | 98 | 174 | 78% |
| 49ers.Com | 75 | 168 | 123% |
| Stlouisrams.Com | 48 | 103 | 116% |
| Newenglandpatriots.Com | 78 | 140 | 80% |
| Denverbroncos.Com | 61 | 88 | 44% |
Source: comScore Media Metrix
The extent to which male Internet users visit the Sports category while at work suggests Sports content provides an attractive reprieve from the daily grind for many. Nearly 42 percent of male at-work Internet users visited a Sports site in July, and those who did spent an average of 77 minutes per month at sites in the category.
Sports Category Male Internet Users
at U.S. Work Locations July 2003
| Unique Visitors (x000) | % Reach | Average Minutes Per Visitor | |
| Total Male Internet Users at Work | 25,042 | 100% | 1,841 |
| Sports Category | 10,527 | 42% | 77 |
| ESPN | 4,369 | 17% | 45 |
| Yahoo! Sports | 2,137 | 9% | 104 |
| Sportsline.com Sites | 1,669 | 7% | 32 |
| MLB.COM | 1,641 | 7% | 24 |
| SI.COM | 1,404 | 6% | 10 |
| NFL Internet Group | 1,210 | 5% | 21 |
| AOL Proprietary Sports | 1,121 | 5% | 10 |
| NBA Internet Network | 927 | 4% | 22 |
| NASCAR.COM | 759 | 3% | 17 |
| USATODAY Sports | 624 | 3% | 7 |
Source: comScore Media Metrix
For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.