Subscribe to AfterDawn's weekly newsletter.
Beckham Boosts Traffic to Official U.S. Major League Soccer Website to Over One Million
LONDON, August 30 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced worldwide traffic figures to http://www.mlsnet.com, the official website of the leading football league in the U.S. The site attracted just over one million unique visitors in July 2007 -- up 117 percent on the previous year. This growth can be accounted for by the U.S. arrival of former England captain, David Beckham, who was signed by MLS side LA Galaxy at the start of the year. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star is reported to have signed a deal alleged to be worth around GBP128 million, making him one of the highest paid sports stars of all time. By the end of 2006, traffic to http://www.mlsnet.com had slumped to 230,000 unique visitors, down from 478,000 in July. However when LA Galaxy announced the signing of David Beckham in January, traffic immediately jumped to 808,000 unique visitors -- a 252 percent month-on-month increase. In the intermittent period as the camera focus on 'Brand Beckham' shifted back to Spain, interest in the MLS site fell away. By March it had fallen to 392,000 unique visitors. However, with the unveiling of Beckham as a Galaxy player at the club's ground on July 13th, and his subsequent playing debut in a friendly match against Chelsea on July 21st, worldwide traffic to the site rocketed to over one million unique visitors. Worldwide Traffic to Mlsnet.com Total Worldwide, Age 15+ -- Home and Work Locations(i) Source: comScore World Metrix Total Unique Date Visitors (000) Timeline Jul 2006 478 Beckham announces retirement from England captaincy Aug 2006 522 Dropped from England squad under new manager, Steve Mclaren Sep 2006 250 Oct 2006 294 Nov 2006 306 LA Galaxy admit their interest in signing the 31 year old Dec 2006 230 Jan 2007 808 LA Galaxy announce the signing of David Beckham on a five year contract Feb 2007 345 Mar 2007 392 Apr 2007 567 Start of MLS season in U.S. May 2007 521 Beckham recalled to the England squad for Brazil friendly Jun 2007 719 Beckham wins Spanish La Liga Title with Real Madrid Jul 2007 1,037 Makes debut for the LA Galaxy in a friendly against Chelsea (i) Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs. Bob Ivins, EVP of International Markets at comScore, observed, "David Beckham's impact on the MLS league's official website has been enormous. The player has single handedly doubled the number of visitors to http://www.mlsnet.com versus this time last year, which let's not forget was a World Cup year. When you look at the traffic increase that occurred in January just because of the announcement of his signing for the club, the figures speak for themselves. If anyone can raise the profile of the sport in the States, David Beckham is undoubtedly the man to do it." European interest in the U.S. football site exploded following the announcement of the move in January, with traffic up 700 percent on December 2006. Like the worldwide trend, visitation immediately tailed off as European eyes refocused on the end of the various football seasons, but picked up again in June and reached its highest ever figure in July, with 255,000 unique visitors. European Traffic to Mlsnet.com Total European, Age 15+ -- Home and Work Locations(i) Source: comScore World Metrix Total Unique Date Visitors (000) Jul 2006 61 Aug 2006 62 Sep 2006 53 Oct 2006 36 Nov 2006 49 Dec 2006 26 Jan 2007 209 Feb 2007 65 Mar 2007 57 Apr 2007 71 May 2007 72 Jun 2007 145 Jul 2007 255 (i) Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs. LONDON, August 30 /PRNewswire/ -- About comScore comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore 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 proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore analysts 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 more than 700 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, BBC, Carat, Cyworld, Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Financial Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com Web site: http://www.comscore.com http://www.mlsnet.com
