comScore Media Metrix examines how Fall brings sports fanatics not only to their feet but also to their desktops.

Fall is, of course, a monumental time for two of America’s most popular spectator sports, as eight teams battle for the World Series crown in baseball and the NFL and college football seasons kick off at stadiums across the country.

According to comScore Media Metrix, 64.5 million Americans viewed Sports sites during September 2005. The increased use of video and audio content has enhanced sports sites, especially for those users equipped with broadband connections. For example, MLB.com offers a subscription service through which fans can purchase live video or audio of all game broadcasts for viewing or listening on a PC, similar to packages available for satellite or cable television.

Key measures of the online sports audience include:

• Sports sites saw 11 percent year-over-year growth in visitation from September 2004.
  
  
• ESPN continued its long run atop the sports category in September 2005, leading the way with 18.8 million unique visitors. The NFL Internet Group has ranked among the web’s highest-gaining properties in terms of unique visitors for the last two months.
  
  
• During the 2004 Major League Baseball playoffs, fans in respective playoff cities were caught up in the frenzy, especially in Boston, where their beloved Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918. According to comScore Media Metrix Local Market data, in October 2004, 22 percent of all internet users in the Boston market viewed MLB.com, the official site of Major League Baseball. Similar levels of popularity are likely to emerge for the Chicago and Houston markets when October 2005 data are released.
  
  
• Football fans are also enjoying the start of the college and professional seasons. comScore Media Metrix AiM lifestyle data reveals that individuals who have been to games as spectators are, not surprisingly, also fans online, looking at sites such as the NFL and ESPN properties. But these are also valuable consumers of financial services (American Express, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter), travel (Orbitz), and consumer electronics and music (Apple Computers) -- offering significant opportunities to marketers of such products.

About comScore Networks
comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than two million consumers who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its patent-pending technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, Bank of America, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, GlaxoSmithKline and Orbitz.