Euro 2004 Tournament Attracts Record Online Audiences
The recent Euro 2004 football tournament was not only a major success for the majority of broadcasters and sponsors, but also attracted record online audiences, according to the latest research from Nielesen//NetRatings.
The study shows that the the BBC’s Euro 2004 website was far and away the most popular in the UK during the tournament, with a peak of more than 1.2 million unique users for the third week of the contest, when England were still in with a chance of reaching the final.
The research shows that the BBC Sports and Sporting Life websites kept their audiences for the longest period of time, with the official UEFA Euro 2004 site encouraging sports fans to surf for more than fifteen minutes. The site provides paid-for content, including video clips of key moments in the games.
During 5pm weekday kick-offs, internet traffic peaked during the game itself. However, for big weekend and evening matches user figures predictably peaked on the days before and after as fans watched on television before turning to the web for analysis and reaction.
Commenting on the findings, Gabrielle Prior, European Data Analyst, said: “This trend is to be expected, as fans were able to get their news and updates on television or radio, but in the periods before and after games, fans were turning to the web.”
He added: “The internet offered different content, including background information, player profiles, team updates, interactive content including video replays, games and even betting – whilst on other more traditional media, fans could see the game live but for a limited period of time. Sponsors of internet content in the future may want to know what days of the week, and times of day the games are planned before deciding where to spend their promotional pound.”
Analysis of the average age of visitors shows that the UEFA Euro 2004 site appealed to a younger audience compared to the other top sites, with 90% of visitors aged 44 or under. The site also had the largest number of visitors in the 24 and under age group. In comparison, Sporting Life attracted an older profile, with more than two thirds of the audience aged 45 or over. AOL Sports and Sky Sports attracted more than half of their audience from people aged over 45.
Prior added: “As Greek fans celebrate winning the Euro 2004 tournament, the companies who chose to sponsor content on the web will be looking at viewer figures and other metrics to understand if their investment will be returned. For sponsors and advertisers alike, the differences in viewer profile shown here can make all the difference in assessing their Euro 2004 promotional campaigns. For future sponsorship opportunities, advertisers should also be considering the day of the week and time of day games are played if they want to drive traffic to the leading sites.”
Last week the latest research published by Initiative Media found that Euro 2004 is the most popular international football tournament since the World Cup 1998 with a cumulative average audience of more than 2.5 billion individuals for its 31 matches (see Euro 2004 Most Popular Tournament Since World Cup 1998).
Nielsen/NetRatings: 01865 732 388 www.nielsennetratings.com
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