FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 6th, 2014

DIGITAL BYTES: NBC SPORTS DIGITAL DELIVERS ITS BEST MONTH EVER IN VISITS WITH 149.5 MILLION

NBC SPORTS DIGITAL “BYTES”

October 6, 2014 – Vol. 38

 

NBC Sports Digital Delivers its Best Month Ever in Visits with 149.5 Million

In September, NBC Sports Digital delivered its best month ever with 149.5 million visits, surpassing the previous record set in March with 146.6 million visits. The start of the NFL and Notre Dame seasons combined with the end of the baseball season registered record traffic for numerous NBC Sports Digital sites.

Following are additional highlights from NBCSports.com and Rotoworld.com September traffic:

  • The start of the NFL season fueled ProFootballTalk to its best month ever in uniques (12.7 million) and visits (34.6 million).
  • Boosted by the start of the Notre Dame Football season, “Inside the Irish” recorded its best month ever in visits (493,100) and page views (858,100) for the second consecutive month. It was also the site’s best month since January 2013 in uniques (182,100).
  • NFL roster and fantasy news launched Rotoworld to its best month ever in visits (29.1 million) and page views (150.3 million). Rotoworld also had its best month since September 2013 in uniques (6.9 million).
  • Derek Jeter’s retirement helped HardballTalk to its best month ever in uniques (3.3 million).

Ryder Cup Scores Best Week Ever for Golf Channel Digital

NBC Sports Group’s unprecedented coverage of the 2014 Ryder Cup from Scotland proved a formidable force for Golf Channel Digital, garnering its best week ever across all digital metrics, as well as record numbers for any week in 2014 that followed a marquee golfing event.

Ryder Cup week, Sept. 22-28, for GolfChannel.com  garnered 2.16 million unique visitors, up 325% vs. 2010 and 75% vs. 2012; nearly 16.2 million page views, up 99% and 65%, respectively; and more than 1.3 million video starts, up 438% and 173%.  Golf Channel Mobile recorded more than 10.4 million page views, up 93% vs. 2012, and more than 267,000 video starts, up 81% vs. 2012.

That momentum continued with Golf Channel experiencing its best digital bump following a marquee golf event in 2014, with a combination of post-Ryder Cup commentary and coverage of the first-ever Big Break Invitational.   From Monday-Thursday within the week following the Ryder Cup, the network generated nearly 10 million page views from more than 1.3 million unique visitors, a 40% increase vs. the same period after any other Major Championship in 2014.

NBC Sports Live Extra App Surpasses 11 Million Downloads

The NBC Sports Live Extra app – NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for mobile devices and tablets — surpassed 11 million downloads this past weekend.  The last million occurred in less than four months. The app is currently at 11.1 million downloads and growing.

Since its debut prior to the 2012 London Olympics, the NBC Sports Live Extra app has streamed some of the most high-profile and prestigious events in sports, including the London and Sochi Olympics; Sunday Night Football (tablet only); all NHL regular-season and Stanley Cup Playoff games, including the Stanley Cup Final; horse racing’s Triple Crown; Notre Dame Football; all 380 Premier League matches; Formula One; IndyCar; and many more.

The SNF Bus Gets Pitch Perfect in Boston

The Bostonians, Boston College’s a cappella group, gave the #SNF Bus an amazing surprise in Boston, a surprise Flash Mob rendition of the SNF Theme and SNF Open by Carrie Underwood.

On Facebook, the video has reached more than 726,000 people with more than 153,000 views, 3,200 “likes” and more than 1,100 shares.

To watch: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=830553910330903

Around the Web on NBC Sports Digital

ProHockeyTalk’s NHL season preview content has begun, featuring a “Risk Factors” series. It’s a stock market-esque approach to teams, assessing what potential pitfalls each one will have coming into the season, and what could derail them from winning the Cup. Follow the series here: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/category/risk-factors/

Starting tomorrow, PHT will review season predictions and “30 teams, 30 questions.”

Names in the News

The Fantasy Sports Writers Association has named NBCSports.com HardBallTalk writer and Rotoworld’s Executive Editor Matthew Pouliout to the 2014 Hall of Fame Class. Congrats, Matt!

— NBC SPORTS DIGITAL —