World Cup Kicks Up Online Traffic in US

August 18, 2010

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Data-driven | Media & Entertainment | Retail & E-Commerce | Sports

US traffic to World Cup-related sites substantially grew in June 2010 as the World Cup championship was being played, according to new data from Compete.

Soccer Content Draws American Interest
Beginning in February 2010, Compete’s “Soccer” category experienced strong month-over-month gains. In June 2010, sites in the category saw a total of 8,132,868 unique visitors (UVs), a 231.8% increase from May’s visitors.

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At the site level, fifa.com topped the list with a total of 6,843,239 UVs, representing a month-over-month increase of 548.34% and a 753.84% uptick from June 2009.

Other notable increases include goal.com with 636,195 UVS (98.51% month-over-month; 130.21% year-over-year), ussoccer.com at 553,818 UVs (109.78% month-over-month; 246.61% year-over-year), mediotimpo.com with 168.402 UVs (38.54% month-over-month; 163.65% year-over-year) and socceramerica.com with 56,345 UVs (44.67% month-over-month; 68.92% year-over-year).

Streaming Content Scores a Goal
Espn.go.com and futbol.univision.com both streamed every match live and experienced tremendous traffic increases as a result. During June 2010, a total of 20,439,267 UVs visited espn.go.com, giving the site a 27.76% increase from the previous month and a 48% uptick from June 2009.

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Futbol.univision.com also reaped the traffic benefits of streaming the World Cup matches; the site experienced a total of 1,276,062 UVs in June 2010, up a whopping 196.84% from the previous month.

Player Sites Also Grow Traffic
Several sites dedicated to individual players in the 2010 World Cup also experienced significant visitor increases during the tournament. For example, traffic to landondonovan.com was up 2,100.86% in June 2010, with a total of 18,003 UVs, many of whom likely logged on to learn more about the player after his performance made him the highest-scoring American in World Cup history.

Cristiano-ronaldo.org, the online home of the popular Real Madrid star, saw a total of 13,441 UVs for the month up 400% from 3,354 UVs in May 2010. Other popular World Cup player’s sites include England’s Wayne Rooney (1,540 UVs), Argentinean coach Diego Maradona (5,984 UVs) and Mexico’s Carlos Vela (4,037 UVs).

US Tunes in to World Cup
In addition to drawing online traffic in the US, the World Cup also drew TV viewership, according to two recent studies from The Nielsen Company. As reported in MediaBuyerPlanner, An estimated 111.6 million U.S. viewers watched at least six minutes of the 2010 World Cup on English or Spanish language networks. The figure is a 22% increase from the reach of 91.4 million U.S. viewers during the 2006 World Cup.

All told, 38% of US viewers, and 50% of all US households, tuned in for at least six minutes of this year’s tournament. Nielsen’s research also found that 57% of the total audience reached by World Cup telecasts was male and 43% was female. Almost half (49%) of the total audience fell between the ages of 18 and 49.

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