Web Sites Seek to Cash In on Super Bowl

The most noticeable bit of interactivity planned for Super Bowl Sunday could come during halftime, when 75,000 fans will flash Raymond James Stadium with free disposable cameras provided by Kodak. But sports-related Web sites, led by the NFL’s SuperBowl.com, also are bolstering interactive elements in a bid to drive traffic, advertising revenue and profitability.

Interactive elements on sports-related sites range from substantive to just plain silly.

* For the first time, fans will be able to go online at SuperBowl.com to join sportswriters in choosing the game’s most valuable player. Fans will account for four of 19 votes to be tallied.

* Pepsi.com visitors are determining which of Pepsi-Cola Co.’s past Super Bowl commercials will run during CBS’ post-game show.

* Miller Brewing Co. is sponsoring the Miller Lite Blooper Bowl, in which visitors will pick a winner from four bone-headed plays being streamed on SuperBowl.com.

* Mars Inc.’s Super Bowl spot will identify the most annoying phrase of 2000 as determined by visitors to the Snickers.com site. The contenders: a.) Is that your final answer? b.) Whazzup! c.) “I demand a recount.”

Though the game won’t be broadcast online, SuperBowl.com. will offer real-time analysis and constantly updated statistics on Sunday. The NFL also has stuffed the site, operated by CBSSportsLine.com, with game footage from past Super Bowls and streaming video from Tampa.

Other sports sites also are in on the action. ESPN’s “Super Bowl Flip Card” lets fans instantly compare key matchups between the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants. On AthletesDirect.com, the Sony Clip of the Day offers an exclusive report each day from Tampa.

Super Bowl Sunday will be the biggest day of the week for SuperBowl.com, but Super Sunday is just average for other sports sites. AthletesDirect.com will put up a weekend package on its Super Bowl site today that won’t change until the game ends. “Starting Sunday night, our challenge will be to go to our [contracted] players and analysts to put what happened into perspective,” said John Terenzio, president of broadband services for Broadband Sports.

“The Super Bowl won’t generate as much traffic for us as the NCAA [basketball] finals or the NFL draft,” said Geoff Reiss, ESPN’s senior vice president of programming. “One big reason is that everybody knows where to find the Super Bowl on TV.”

But Monday will be a big day for all sports-related sites. No matter that most viewers will be back at work--many will use office computers with higher-speed Internet access to catch post-game reviews.

On the strength of real-world advertisers such as Miller Brewing Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Southwest Airlines, SuperBowl.com is expected to top $5 million in revenue and generate at least $3 million in profit. The NFL hopes that traffic will grow by 40% over last January, when the Web site attracted 3.5 million visitors.

Online advertising revenue, though, continues to be dwarfed by the $150 million that CBS will draw for its game broadcast. And, although sponsors “have made significant commitments to the site, that’s not to say it’s been easy,” said Chris Russo, senior vice president of new media for the NFL. “Internet advertising growth rates have not been what many people thought they’d be six to eight months ago.”

Sports sites are caught in the same advertising downdraft that’s hit most advertising-dependent Web sites. But ESPN’s Reiss maintains that ESPN.com delivers a highly desirable demographic: “We’re mystified by the prognostications of gloom and doom.”

One of ESPN’s chief tools is the “big impression,” an advertising block that appears in the top right corner of ESPN.com. Unlike banner ads that flash different messages, the block is sold to a single advertiser. AT&T;, Wendy’s and Compaq purchased the space in recent months, and Universal Studios will use it this weekend to promote movies opening this summer.

Advertisers applaud the added content, but they characterize online sites as just another tool in their media arsenal. “We want to hit people wherever they are,” said Scott Bussen, spokesman for Miller Lite, which is the exclusive brewer on SuperBowl.com. “That means billboards, displays in grocery stores, TV, radio, print--everywhere the football fan goes.”