The digital sports media category showed modest growth in January, both compared to December and the start of last year, according to monthly comScore rankings of multiplatform digital reach and consumption. The category generated a total audience of 184.63 unique visitors, up 1.9% from December and up 1% from January ’17. The figures continue a recent upward trend after the first half of last year had been marked by sharp declines in sports content consumption. ESPN led all sports entities last month in reach for the 17th straight month and the 46th time in the last 47 months with a total of 82.4 million unique users. It also paced the category in consumption with an average of 68 minutes per user during the month. January is also expected to be the final month that traffic from SI is part of the Fox Sports-Perform Media rollup. SI last summer signaled its intent to stop selling display advertising on Fox Sports sites after Fox Sports’ pivot to a video-based digital strategy to promote its TV programming.
|
RANK
|
SITE |
UNIQUES (000)
|
|
1
|
ESPN |
82,397
|
|
2
|
CBS Sports* |
64,399
|
|
3
|
Yahoo Sports-NBC Sports Network** |
57,986
|
|
4
|
NFL Internet Group |
53,591
|
|
5
|
SB Nation |
53,052
|
|
6
|
Fox Sports-Perform Media*** |
51,581
|
|
7
|
Bleacher Report-Turner Sports Network^ |
49,767
|
|
8
|
USA Today Sports Media Group^^ |
46,005
|
|
9
|
MSN Sports |
20,109
|
|
10
|
MinuteMedia# |
18,074
|
|
11
|
MLB |
14,301
|
|
12
|
Deadspin.com |
12,469
|
|
13
|
NESN |
11,274
|
|
14
|
Diehards sites |
11,224
|
|
15
|
NHL Network |
9,911
|
|
|
|
RANK
|
SITE |
TOTAL TIME SPENT (MINUTES)
|
|
1
|
ESPN |
5.60 billion
|
|
2
|
Yahoo Sports-NBC Sports Network** |
2.65 billion
|
|
3
|
NFL Internet Group |
1.17 billion
|
|
4
|
Bleacher Report-Turner Sports Network^ |
1.14 billion
|
|
5
|
CBS Sports* |
1.06 billion
|
|
6
|
MSN Sports |
570 million
|
|
7
|
Fox Sports-Perform Media*** |
552 million
|
|
8
|
USA Today Sports Media Group^^ |
397 million
|
|
9
|
SB Nation |
345 million
|
|
10
|
Minute Media# |
154 million
|
| NOTES: * = Includes 247Sports.com, MaxPreps and Scout Media. ** = Includes Rivals.com, ThePostGame.com, Rotoworld and FanDuel. *** = Includes National Football Post, the FanSided Network, SI and Sporting News. ^ = Includes NBA.com, NCAA.com and WNBA.com. ^^ = Includes 81 local Gannett-owned newspaper sites, 23 Gannett-owned broadcast TV sites, USA Today High School Sports, The Big Lead and For The Win. # = Includes 90min, 12UP, DBLTap and The Spun. |
