2013: A LOOK BACK IN SPORTS - FINALE - GLOBAL SPORTS

Continuing last week's coverage, I take a final look this week at Nielsen's data on sports fans in 2013 focusing on the latest findings on global sports.  You can read the full-summarized report here: http://bit.ly/1fT9KVa.  I've read through it and here are some of the most interesting facts from the past year:

 

http://bit.ly/Oj8zE4

 From soccer and tennis to rugby and cycling, globally, sports remain a force to be reckoned with on the broadcasting stage.  In the United States, the NFL and Super Bowl reign supreme in viewers, ratings, and buzz, but around the world a diversity of tastes and passions shine through.  Soccer (known by many global citizens as football) holds the most sway in attracting a wide range of markets and nets the most viewing hours by fans of any sport.  Soccer also remains the most popular sport in countries as diverse as Italy, Russia, South Africa, Indonesia, and Spain.  Here are some other global sport highlights for 2013:

·      In Norway, the World Cup of Cross Country Skiing held most viewership honors among its sports programming, while in Japan it was the Japan vs. Netherlands, World Baseball Classic game that citizens took most interest in.

·      71% of UK homes had their TV sets tuned to the Wimbledon tennis final as Andy Murray became the first British man to win the title in 77 years.

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·      In Denmark, the Handball Men’s Championship had nearly 80% of all television sets in use at the time tuned into the event.

·      Over 21 million German viewers, comprising 61% of all German households, watched the UEFA Champions League Final soccer match in May.

·      Russia and Indonesia led the way with soccer programming among all nations, with 73% and 74% respectively of all sports television programming devoted to the sport in 2013.

·      In the United States, a love for horse racing goes a long way as the Kentucky Derby brought in over 16 million viewers and 300,000 related tweets in 2013.

http://bit.ly/1egdlJy

2013: A LOOK BACK IN SPORTS - PART 6 - NCAA FOOTBALL

 Continuing last week's coverage, I take a look this week at Nielsen's data on sports fans in 2013 focusing on the latest findings on NCAA football.  You can read the full-summarized report here: http://bit.ly/1fT9KVa.  I've read through it and here are some of the most interesting facts from the past year:

Source: http://bit.ly/1ppC8j4

The changing leaves, the crisp air, the endless pumpkin baked goods, for many these images call to mind autumn and with those thoughts also come dreams of a college football championship season.  A record thirty-one NCAA football games aired nationally in 2013, not even counting the bowl games, compared to only twenty-two games in 2012.  This was in large part due to a dominate SEC division, Florida State’s catapult to fame run in the ACC, and strong showings by Michigan State and Ohio State in the Big 10.  The games drew over 5 million viewers on average, while the 2014 BCS National Championship had over 25 million viewers dialed in to watch the battle between Auburn and Florida State.  Fans took to Twitter as well, with 4.4 million tweets by 1.2 million unique authors flooding the Twitter airwaves during that time, a 400 thousands tweet rise from 2012. 

Source: http://bit.ly/1iRBGdp

• Florida State may have broken the SEC’s seven consecutive BCS championships, but the conference enjoyed another banner year having the most viewed college football games of the 2013 season with 9.7 million on average tuning in for the top 10 nationally televised regular season games involving a team from the SEC.
• The Big-10 brings in the second largest audience with an average of 7 million watching their teams compete.
• Top NCAA football advertiser: AT&T Wireless 
• NCAA football fans are 18% more likely than the average U.S. adult to have life insurance and 24% more like to belong to a health club.
• The average NCAA Bowl Game viewer is most likely to be a white male aged 55+ who makes $20,000 -$40,000 annually.
• The top storylines in the 2013 NCAA football regular season included Alabama holding the top spot in the polls until the final week of the season, Auburn and Missouri’s resurgence, and “Johnny Football” lighting up the scoreboard for the Aggies. 



Source: http://bit.ly/1eC8DsE

• The top two local fan bases with most-devoted fan bases saw the percentages of their population having watched, attended, or listened to the team in the past 12 months clock in at over 60%.  The top two spots were so close in fact, only one percentage point separated first from second place.
•  The Alabama Crimson Tide’s local fan base in Birmingham took second place with 65% of the population faithful and dedicated to the organization. The top honors however, landed with fans in Columbus, where 66% of the population stands behind the Ohio State Buckeyes.

2013: A LOOK BACK IN SPORTS - PART 4 - SOCCER

Continuing last week's coverage, I take a look this week at Nielsen's data on sports fans in 2013 focusing on the latest findings on soccer.  You can read the full summarized report here: http://bit.ly/1fT9KVa.  I've read through it and here are some of the most interesting facts from the past year:

http://bit.ly/1dQ8CxA

Soccer will take center stage this year when all eyes turn to Brazil for the World Cup in June.  There was a lot of attention and excitement paid to the soccer world in 2013 as a number of big qualifying matches took place.  In the U.S. the most-watched soccer match was the qualifier between the U.S. and Mexico in March, raking in nearly 7 million viewers between the English and Spanish broadcasts. 

Despite the retirement of fan favorite David Beckham, Major League Soccer (MLS) still retained a strong viewership during its playoffs, with a 9% increase over 2012.  The regular MLS season brings in the most Hispanic (34%) viewers, with almost 3 times as many as the next most popular sport (Major League Baseball) among the demographic.  Here’s the latest and greatest on soccer thru a look back on 2013.

http://bit.ly/1gKH7HV

·      MLS viewers are younger and more tech savvy, with their phones as their main source of connectivity

o   52% of MLS fans who have expressed strong interest in attending events or viewing games on TV are under the age of 35, the highest percentage of any pro league

o   76% of MLS fans own a smartphone vs. 66% of U.S. population

o   42% of MLS fans have used mobile video in the last 30 days compared to 21% nationally

·      Top MLS advertiser: Continental Tires

·      Avid MLS fans are 13% more likely than the average U.S. adult to engage in social networking, and 28% are more likely to spend 3 hours or more PER DAY on social networking sites

·      The average MLS viewer is a white male aged 35-54 who makes $40,000-$75,000 annually.  MLS demographics have the most spread out viewership income distribution than any other sport with every income category falling between 17%-24% of the entire audience.

·      The top MLS local fan base, determined by percentage of fans that have attended, watched, or listened to the team in the past 12 months, belongs to the Seattle Sounders with 21% of the population supporting the team.

2013: A LOOK BACK IN SPORTS - PART 3 - GOLF

Continuing last week's coverage, I take a look this week at Nielsen's data on sports fans in 2013 focusing on the latest findings on golf.  You can read the full summarized report here: www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2014/year-in-the-sports-media-report-2013.html: I've read through it and here's some of the most interesting facts from the past year:

http://bit.ly/NpnpZm

The biggest names in golf teed off an exciting year in 2013, with standout performances from Phil Mickelson wining the British Open to Tiger Woods raking in five tournament victories.  The Final Round at the Masters alone brought a 9% increase in viewership over 2012.  While rising young stars like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth continue to make headlines and threaten the legacy of the veteran champs, golf viewership remains tethered to an unchanging demographic of affluent, older, white men that has remained the same over the past decade.  

 

·      14.7 million TV viewers clicked their remotes over to the Masters in 2013

·      The average PGA viewer is a white male, aged 55 or older who makes $40-$75k a year. The second largest demographic includes those making $100K or more a year.

·      Avid PGA fans skew older and wealthier, however they are also very tech savvy, consuming content on a variety of devices, golf fans are actually the least likely to watch sports on TV than fans of any other sport, but are:

o   30% more likely to watch on a mobile app

o   33% more likely to watch on a tablet

o   20% more likely to watch at work

·      Avid PGA fans are 60% more likely than the average consumer to own stocks/stock options and 43% more likely to own second homes.

·      Top PGA advertiser: Cialis RX

·      NASCAR has the highest share of female fans of any sport on TV at 37%, however PGA viewership is not far behind with 35% of the audience makeup skewing female.

·      The top two golfers tweeted at Augusta include Tiger Woods and Adam Scott, with 127,000 and 234,000 tweets respectively, surrounding their names.  Golf fans are in full Twitter swing!

2013: A LOOK BACK IN SPORTS - Part 1

Nielsen has released it's data on sports fans in 2013 and needless to say it was a great year for sports programming, sports content, and an exciting season for just about every sports fan.  You can read the full summarized report here: www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2014/year-in-the-sports-media-report-2013.html: I've read through it and here's some of the most interesting facts from the past year:

SPORTS CONSUMPTION 

·      232% increase in hours of national sports programming in the past 10 years, over 33 billion hours of national coverage in 2013, consumed by 255 million people

·      Average fan spends 90 minutes browsing a sports website, 30 minutes watching video on a sports website, and 75 minutes accessing sports content on a phone each month

·      Sports make up only 1.2% of TV programming, yet make up nearly half of all tweets about TV.

·      African Americans spent the most time accessing sports and sports video on the web, while Hispanics were the most likely to view the same content on their mobile devices 

NFL BREAKDOWN:

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·      All five broadcast networks carrying NFL games saw an increase in viewership this season. Four of the six highest rated Sunday Night Football telecasts featured the Broncos.

·      More than 10 million Americans used fantasy football apps, spending 2 hours and 15 minutes on average a month there, with Yahoo leading the way.

·      NFL fans are 41% more likely to have consumed a craft beer in the past month, and Bud Light is the NFL’s top advertiser. 

·      The average fan is likely to be a white male, aged 55 and older who makes $40-$75K annually. 

·      The Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints topped the pack of most-devoted fan bases with over 80% of their population having watched, attended, or listened to the team in the past 12 months. 

 NBA BREAKDOWN:

http://bit.ly/1ja1xf9

·      NBA fans are younger and more social than any other sport.

·       Viewers sent 27 million Tweets during the NBA Finals alone in 2013, and five of the top ten most tweeted about sporting events are NBA games (only the SuperBowl drew more). 

·      NBA fans are 66% more likely to have used Twitter in the past month, and Sprint Wireless is the NBA’s top advertiser.

·      The average fan is likely to be a black male, aged 18-34 who makes $40-$75K a year.

·      The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs topped the pack of most devoted fan bases with 60% or more of the population having watched, attended, or listened to the team in the past 12 months.

 MLB BREAKDOWN:

http://bit.ly/1g1cZaI

·      MLB fans are older and wealthier than any other sport.  The 55 and up demographic makes up half of the audience, and those making over $100K a year drive 21% of the market.

·      MLB games saw in increase in TV viewership this year, but also go hand in hand with radio listeners, seeing out of the park gains during the World Series in both the St. Louis (65% gain) and Boston (211% gain) metro radio markets.

·      MLB fans are 37% more likely to have taken 10 or more domestic round-trip flights in the past year, and the top MLB advertiser is Verizon Wireless.

·      The average fan is likely to be a white male, aged 55 and older who makes $40-$75K annually. 

·      While all of the top five most devoted fan bases including Milwaukee, Boston, Detroit, and Cincinnati had 65% or higher of the population having watched, attended, or listened to the team in the past 12 months, the St. Louis Cardinals pulled to the top of the pack with 76% of the population.

 NHL BREAKDOWN:

 

my friend's baby

·      Despite a lockout and shortened season, NHL viewership continued to grow in 2013 by almost 20%, including a series-clinching game six of the Stanley Cup Finals bringing in 8.2 million viewers.  The Finals across the board were the most watched on record, averaging 5.8 million viewers.

·      The audience is also growing more affluent with over half of the population making over $75K a year. 

·      NHL fans are 34% more likely to own a tablet, and the top NHL advertiser is Discover Credit Card.  

·      The average fan is most likely to be a white male aged 35-54 making $100K a year or more. 

·      Three of the top five most devoted fan bases including Boston, Detroit, and Buffalo had over 40% of their population watching, attending, or listening to the team in the past 12 months, but only the Pittsburgh Penguin fan base cracked the halfway mark, coming in at 54% of the population.