EPL Talk » Soccernet

ESPN2 Sees 64% Increase in Households For Euro ‘08 Over Network Average

Jeff Hash — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:12:04 +0000

If you happen to notice a sense of relief coming from ESPN in the last few days, there is a reason for it. It’s because, while they are not coming in World Cup numbers, viewers are tuning in to the network’s broadcasts of Euro 2008.

ESPN announced today that, for the 15 Euro 2008 matches shown on ESPN2 through Tuesday, June 17th, the average rating for the tournament is .5, with 521,000 homes tuning in and 655,000 viewers. Compared to the network average for the same time block (Noon to 5PM eastern) in 2007, this represents a 64% increase in households tuned in to ESPN2 (2007 average of 318,000 homes), a 67% increase in rating, and an 81% increase in viewers (2007 average of 362,000 viewers). The most watched match of the tournament on ESPN2 was this past Saturday between Sweden and Spain. The match netted a .9 rating from 831,000 homes and 1.01 million viewers.

In addition to ESPN2, the Spanish-language broadcasts on ESPN Deportes have been averaging an additional 74,000 Hispanic homes per match. This puts the combined household average of ESPN2 and Deportes for each match at just shy of 600,000 homes. Interestingly, the most watched match on Deportes so far is the opening-day broadcast of Portugal v Turkey, seen in 123,000 Hispanic homes.

Along with the viewership on TV, ESPN is also getting more eyeballs online. ESPN’s Soccernet website has averaged over 1 million daily visits during the tournament, an 82 percent increase over the same period during Euro 2004. The tournament is also contributing to ESPN360’s most watched month online since it’s relaunch in September of last year.

With increased viewership being seen on cable, ESPN will now be hoping for a successful jump to broadcast TV with the Netherlands v Russia quarterfinal this Saturday and the final next Sunday on ABC. But for now, programmers will be breathing a little easier at the worldwide leader in sports.

ESPN Launches Its Euro ‘08 Web Site

The Gaffer — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:30:28 +0000

ESPN has quietly launched its Euro 2008 site, which features stunning graphics and a very clean cutting edge design.From the opening intro of “This is not the football you think it is,” the web site features a state-of-the-art design that pulls you into the site. Once you’ve viewed the intro, you find yourself on the home page which is remarkably understated in comparison to the intro but still well designed with a clean interface.

Features on the site include:

Team selector for each country featuring the team roster, national anthem and team news
History of European Championships
Downloads such as wallpapers, buddy icons and videos to put on your video iPod
ESPN’s TV ads for Euro 2008
Euro 2008-related polls
A link to the Euro 2008 TV schedule for ESPN
A link to the ESPN Euro 2008 fantasy game
Schedule of when the next match will be on TV
And a countdown clock to the beginning of Euro 2008.

While the design of the site is stunning, what it lacks is meat (i.e. content), an easy to remember URL (try memorizing assets.espn.go.com/espn/euro2008) and, lastly, user generated content. Despite the appealing look and feel of the site, it acts more as a gateway to take users back to ESPN Soccernet. With a little more work, it could have ended up being a destination that visitors would go to more often.

Thanks to EPL Talk reader Neal P for the tip. Feel free to send your news items or tips to me at thegaffer[at]epltalk[dot]com

Top 10 Most Visited Soccer Websites By U.S. Visitors

The Gaffer — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:05:49 +0000

There are some movers and shakers in the list of the top 10 most visited soccer websites by visitors from the United States, according to Hitwise for the week ending May 17th. Compared to the week ending April 26th, ESPN Soccernet is still number one, but with slightly less overall market share.

Goal.com has jumped from number four to number two, leapfrogging Fox Sports Soccer and Soccer.com who both dropped back.

Dropping off the list is FIFA.com, which has been replaced by the more popular Arsenal.com.

Here’s the complete top 10 as of the week ending May 17, 2008:

ESPN Soccernet, 14.46% market share
Goal.com, 8.51%
Foxsports Soccer, 6.57%
Soccer.com, 6.02%
uefa.com, 3.94%
Manchester United, 3.63%
Yahoo! Sports World Soccer, 3.29%
Major League Soccer, 3.26%
Big Soccer, 2.39%
Arsenal.com, 2.37%

Anticipating one question that readers may have based on the comments from an earlier post, The Offside isn’t listed in the top 10. In fact, it’s not listed in the top 150 (EPL Talk is number 142).