• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

'No Reg' Drives March Madness On Demand Traffic Up 122%

Kansas State wasn't the only team to advance on the NCAA tourney courts Thursday. CBSSports.com managed to rake up some of its own points on the first full day of March Madness, proving that fans want more game and fewer hoops to jump through.

The site, along with its partners, released traffic figures for NCAA March Madness on Demand (MMOD) for the first day of the first round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

According to CBS, there were 1,751,956 unique visitors to the NCAA March Madness On Demand video player. The number represents a 122% increase over 2007's figures.

Why such an increase? CBS says it partially has to do with its distribution partnerships with more than 200 sites, including ESPN.com, Yahoo, and the Sports Illustrated Web site. CBSSports.com also said its numbers were bolstered by linking to social networking sites like Facebook and video powerhouse YouTube.

But it was their choice to drop registration requirements for its video player that CBSSports.com claims is the largest factor in the year-over-year traffic escalation.

Some 1,751,956 unique visitors came to the player this week. In 2007, that figure was 789,045. In addition, there were 571,297 people who signed up for CBSSports' VIP service this year compared with 2007's 468,720 sign-ups -- representing a 22% growth.

Fans also were clearly on a clicking spree as CBSSports reported there were 1,225,089 clicks of the "Boss Button." The feature is more of a novelty this year, however, as more companies are actually encouraging March Madness participation.

This year marks the first time that all 63 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship are available online regardless of local blackouts. Previously, MMOD provided live video of 56 games from the first round through the regional semifinals.

So keep those brackets handy, and don't forget to check out the rest of our coverage of the 2008 InformationWeek College Hoops Challenge.

« George Clooney Googles Himself | Main | But Cling If You Must To The Illusion Of Privacy »