Super Bowl hits Web in the numbers p.12

By: Joe Strupp At the end of Super Bowl XXXIII, the victorious Denver Broncos weren't the only ones celebrating.
Those who run Web sites devoted to the big game also had reason to smile after finding that their Internet pages had drawn more revenue and fan interest this year than at any time in the past.
In some cases, the number of Web page hits more than doubled for sites, while revenue increases range from 20% to 300% for some online locations.
"I think we had exceptional revenue," says Wes Jackson, general manager of InsideDenver.com, the Web site of the Denver Rocky Mountain News. "We got a great return."
Jackson says ad revenue for the Web site, open since October 1997, jumped from $5,000 in January 1998 to an estimated $20,000 for January 1999. He also says the number of pages viewed rose from 3 million to 5.5 million in the same time frame.
The new ad accounts ranged from national clients such as Fox Sports, the Mining Co., and Sports Illustrated to local, Denver-based Web businesses.
The increased Web revenue is credited, in part, to a different approach, Jackson says, which involved selling larger ads to a smaller group of buyers, thus giving each more space. "It gave them a position to better maximize results," he says.
At DenverPost.com, the Web site of the News' main competitor, results are similar, according to Web editor Todd Engdahl. He says Web activity jumped from 3.2 million pages viewed in January 1998 to 4.5 million this year.
Engdahl declines to provide specific revenue figures or name new advertisers but says at least two additional sports memorabilia sellers have signed on.
For AccessAtlanta.com, the Web home of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the hometown Falcon's trip to the championship game prompted a 20% boost in Web site activity and twice as much revenue during the week before the Super Bowl, according to general manager George de Golian.
"We continue to have a big audience when there is a major event," says de Golian.
In Miami, which hosted the Super Bowl, The Miami Herald Internet site, Herald.Com, reports a $35,000 ad revenue increase during the Super Bowl weekend compared with regular weekend activity, according to Rich Gordon, the Web site's director. He also says the number of page hits increased by about 20% during the game weekend.
On ESPN.com, the Web arm of the all-sports cable channel, activity nearly doubled over the weekend, from 3.5 million page views in 1998 to 6.3 million this year, says Eric Handler, manager of communications.
In a related note, CBS Sportsline.com says that seven major national advertisers, including Budweiser, IBM, and Pepsi, have paid a combined $800,000 for advertising on the network's Web site, which provided Super Bowl coverage and merchandise.
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