Online Gambling Top Growth In September
Published: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
ONLINE GAMBLING TOP OF THE POPS IN SEPTEMBER
comScore Media Metrix study reveals that online gambling showed a 17 percent gain over a month
The latest media study from comScore Media Metrix showcases the popularity of online gambling in the very month that US legislation designed to cripple the industry for US players was passed by Congress.
Online Gambling was the top growth category in September, posting a 17 percent gain over the previous month.
Heading up the category was the FTSE 100 (at that time) betting group Party Gaming with 10.9 million U.S. visitors, a 75 percent increase, followed by SportingBet PLC, the second-biggest gaining Web property during the month with 5.4 million U.S. visitors (up 194 percent).
Both companies have been hard-hit by investor reaction to the US ban on financial transactions to online gambling sites, which the president signed into law last Friday.
The ban comes at prime time for the US football season, as people around the country are placing bets on their favorite teams, said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "As speculation continues about the future of these online gambling sites, fans will very likely continue to turn to fantasy games on traditional sports Web sites, which also saw big increases in popularity last month."
Americans also checked out sports Web sites in September, triggering a 7 percent increase to the sports category overall.
Leading the category was ESPN with 20.4 million visitors, a 14 percent increase over August, followed by Yahoo! Sports with 17.5 million visitors (up 27 percent) and FOX Sports on MSN with 16.5 million visitors (up 25 percent).
Despite heightened fan interest in Major League Baseball during September as teams jockeyed for playoff position, traffic to MLB.com fell 16 percent versus August to 9.1 million. In contrast, traffic to Nascar.com increased 6 percent to 4.1 million visitors with its season heating up in September.
Finally, with college football season kicking off, College Sports TV appeared in the top 10 Sports Sites in September, garnering 7.1 million visitors, a 22-percent increase versus August.
In general entertainment media, MSN TV represented the top TV site overall with 12.7 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! TV with 9.8 million visitors and AOL Television with 9.6 million visitors. Also notable was the 50 percent increase to TVGuide.com, which had 4.3 million visitors in September.
Online video sites also continued to gain momentum as visitation to the wildly popular YouTube gained 9 percent during the month, reaching 20.8 million visitors. Video site Metacafe gained 134 percent to 4.2 million visitors, representing the third biggest gainer for the month. In addition, TopTVBytes.com experienced a 72-percent increase to 6.1 million visitors, representing the sixth top-gaining Web property for the month.
"As the buzz about the Google/ YouTube deal turns to the topic of 'who's next?' it will be interesting to watch how online video sites differentiate themselves and how major media companies take notice," commented Flanagan.
Almost all of the top 10 general news Web sites experienced gains in September as Americans reflected on the events of September 11th five years ago. Yahoo! News led the pack with 35.8 million visitors, followed by MSNBC with 27.3 million visitors and CNN with 24.4 million visitors. AOL News represented the biggest gainer within the top 10 news sites with 24.1 million visitors, a 19-percent increase versus August.
Top 50 Properties
In September, the top 10 properties remained unchanged with Yahoo! Sites retaining its position at number one, attracting nearly 130 million unique visitors. As anxious TV viewers prepared for the launch of the Fall season, both CBS Corporation and NBC Universal enjoyed large increases in visitors, entering the ranking this month at numbers 19 and 34, respectively. NFL Internet group also entered the ranking this month at number 37, attracting more than 16 million unique visitors eager for the start of football season. Wikipedia Sites also moved up four spots to number 11, drawing 35 million unique visitors.
Top 50 Ad Focus
In September, Advertising.com claimed the number one position in the Ad Focus ranking for the 29th consecutive month, reaching an incredible 84 percent of the U.S. population online. CPX Interactive enjoyed a strong debut at number nine, reaching more than 96 million Americans, or 56 percent of the U.S. online population. ESPN moved up four spots to number 38, while EA Online Syndicated Games and Real.com entered the ranking at numbers 49 and 50, respectively.
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