TORONTO – Can sports fans picture being a fan today without the web? No way. How else would we be able to keep tabs on The President’s Cup in the office?
And, it’s only been 10 years since radio, TV and the agate type of the nation’s sports pages were the only sources for deep knowledge.
TSN.ca is celebrating its first 10 years today as Canada’s number one sports web site, with an average of 1.6 million unique visitors and 42.5 million page views per month – more than five times the amount of other Canadian sports broadcasters’ web sites, says its press release today.
In celebration of its 10th anniversary and in addition to its 125,000 pages of content, TSN.ca today unveiled a special anniversary section on the web site that includes a new ‘TSN.ca 10’ logo, a 10-year timeline charting the evolution of the site along with sports facts and figures, the top sports stories/athletes/teams from each of the past 10 years, and special articles about the impact of the Internet from TSN.ca’s popular columnists.
www.tsn.ca/tsn10/
In conjunction with TSN.ca’s 10th anniversary, SportsCentre is airing a three-part series on the growth and popularity of sports on the Internet – Past, Present and Future – airing today through Wednesday on the evening and late editions of SportsCentre.
"TSN.ca has revolutionized Canada’s on-line sports landscape and continues to push the envelope with innovative technological advancements," said Phil King, president, TSN. "TSN.ca is top-of-mind with sports fans looking for up-to-the-minute news and information spanning the entire sports spectrum."
In 1995, TSN.ca consisted of a ‘cyber stadium’ with six individual gateways:
1) Scoreboard – scores, standings and schedules from seven different sports,
2) Broadcast Booth – primary news hub with links to stories from 13 different sports, SportsDesk, and other TSN shows
3) Locker Room – on-line forums
4) Playing Field – visitors could play NTN interactive and trivia games
5) Ticket Booth – a partnership with Ticketmaster that gave TSN.ca users a chance to buy game/event tickets on-line
6) Souvenir Stand – users could buy TSN merchandise.
TSN.ca evolved into one of the largest sports news and information sites, and today, is the most visited Canadian sports web site by Canadians with 625,000 minutes of audio and video clips each month, scores/updates/standings/stats from 30 different sports, daily fan forums and fantasy pools, and star columnists and reporters
Then and Now
* Average number of page views per month: 2002 – 26 million. 2005 – 42.5 million (before 2002, there was no accurate measurement system)
* Average number of unique visitors per month: 2002 – 900,000. 2005 – 1.6 million
* Number of pages of content: 1995 – 150; 2005 – 125,000
* Number of sports featured: 1995 – 13; 2005 – 30
* Average number of audio/video clips played per month: 1996 – 5,000; 2005 – 625,000
* Contributing columnists: 1995 – Dave Hodge and Bob McKenzie. 2005 – Dave Hodge and Bob McKenzie, as well as James Duthie, Jay Onrait, Chris Schultz, Dan Pollard, Debbi Wilkes and Alex J. Walling
TSN.ca firsts
* First Canadian sports web site to stream audio and video using RealAudio and VivoActive (1996). Included SportsDesk 60-Second Update, TSN SportsRadio Update, Hockey Talk, Dave Hodge Commentary, The Numbers, Plays of the Week, Highlight of the Night, and Plays of the Year
* First Canadian sports web site to feature daily podcasts (launching Oct. 3, 2005)
* First Canadian sports web site to debut NTN interactive games (Football, Hockey and Baseball) and NTN Trivia games
* First Canadian sports web site to feature daily on-line chats
* First Canadian sports web site to have daily interactive polls
* First Canadian sports web site to have a ‘host’, which helped guide users to new content on the site. The host, nicknamed ‘George’, also interacted with users via chats and emails, giving users a personal experience on TSN.ca *First Canadian sports web site to sell merchandise on-line
By The Numbers
* 41.1 million page views represents the record for most page views in a single day (March 9, 2004 – NHL Trade Deadline Day)
* 485,000 users are registered on TSN.ca
* 30,000 is the average number of user comments submitted to the ‘Your Call’ section each month
* 78,000 users receive TSN.ca’s morning email blast
