• by Masha Geller , January 23, 2003

If there’s anything about the Internet we know for sure it’s that the web will be a popular destination during Sunday’s big game, regardless of the score. As Greg Bloom, senior Internet analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings, says, "We anticipate that sports websites overall will draw heavy traffic between now and Sunday, when fans will have the ability to log on and vote for the game's MVP."

And that’s good news for online advertisers. "Watching Super Bowl TV commercials has become a significant part of the overall experience and during the last few years, online advertisers have provided creative rich media campaigns to compliment and enhance this experience," says Bloom.

Nielsen//NetRatings reported that more than one million unique visitors logged on to SuperBowl.com during the week ending January 19, soaring 339% in traffic since the playoffs started. As the official site for the event, SuperBowl.com attracted fans online throughout the wild card playoffs to the AFC and NFC Conference championships this past weekend.

We already know that major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl or the World Series, contribute significantly to traffic increases, with sports sites attracting more surfers beyond its usual fan base. The encouraging part is that every year, the numbers increase.

According to Nielsen//NetRatings data, nearly 12 million Internet users visited a sports-related website during the week ending January 19, reaching more than 14% of the active online population at home. Sports fans surfing the Internet made ESPN their No. 1 destination, attracting 3.8 million at home unique visitors during the week. NFL Internet Network drew 2.3 million surfers, claiming the No. 2 ranking. Nearly 1.9 million surfers logged onto eBay Sports, which offered game tickets and sports memorabilia for sale. Rounding out the top five, AOL Sports and Yahoo! Sports both garnered nearly 1.7 million visitors.