EGAMEPULSE (www.egamepulse.com)
Tuesday, October 17. 2006
Ironically, just prior to the landmark legislation passed by Congress in early October to stem gambling over the Internet, Online Gambling was the top gaining category in September, posting a 17-percent gain versus August. Leading the category was embattled PartyGaming with 10.9 million U.S. visitors, a 75-percent increase, followed by SportingBet PLC, the second-biggest gaining Web property during the month with 5.4 million U.S. visitors (up 194 percent).
“Congress’ move to outlaw online gambling comes at the prime time for football season, as people around the country are placing bets on their favorite teams,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. “As speculation continues about the future of these online gambling sites, fans will very likely continue to turn to fantasy games on traditional sports Web sites, which also saw big increases last month.”
Indeed, in addition to placing bets, Americans also checked out sports Web sites in September, triggering a 7-percent increase to the sports category overall. Leading the category was ESPN with 20.4 million visitors, a 14-percent increase versus August, followed by Yahoo! Sports with 17.5 million visitors (up 27 percent) and FOX Sports on MSN with 16.5 million visitors (up 25 percent)….
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