Optimedia released the second edition of its Content Power Ratings report (the proprietary multiplatform ratings system first launched in March this year), this time measuring the total “value” of the past year’s sports properties and events across all platforms.
The report reveals potentially huge business opportunities for sports properties and networks because of the growing shift in the ways in which viewers are watching sports events (less TV, more online/mobile, etc.).
Optimedia finds that in one of the biggest years for sports ever, the Olympics top the list in terms of total audience rating, and Major League Baseball events own 4 of the top 10 spots in the rankings, bolstered by the availability of games/events streamed online, via mobile, etc.
Using data from the agency’s own primary research, as well as media data from The Nielsen Company, comScore, Inc., ePoll, Divinity Metrics, Inc. and Dow Jones Factiva, the report measures and evaluates the performance of the top televised sports events across multiple media types, including television ratings, streaming online video, web traffic, mobile views, press coverage and word of mouth.
Additionally, the ranking factors not just the size of the audience but the perceived ‘appeal’ of each event, as well as measures qualitative factors such as how “viewers rate the event,” “which viewers would make a special effort to watch these events in the future” and “whether they purchased merchandise around the events.”
Key findings:
The Olympics (#1) outranked the Super Bowl (#2) this year, on the strength of the former’s online audience and substantial offline word-of-mouth
Four of the top 10 ranked sports events belonged to Major League Baseball. This includes last October’s Boston Red Sox/Colorado Rockies World Series (#3); the All Star game (#6); and the Championship series for the American League (#7) and National League (#10)
The NBA Finals featuring the Boston Celtics’ win over the LA Lakers was ranked #8
Wrestlemania (#15) despite being available only through pay-per-view, out rated events such as the NBA Western Conference (#18) play-offs and the US Masters (#20).
The Tour de France ranked 27th despite being the 57th ranked television rated event.
Antony Young, president, Optimedia, US, said, “From our perspective, sponsoring or advertising within sporting events such as the Olympic Games or the NBA is just an alternative way of promoting our clients’ brands. Understanding the full extent of the exposure they are getting is key to our evaluating them as advertising media.”
