Shelving its MVNO doesn't seem to have hurt ESPN Mobile. In fact, ESPN says it was "overwhelmingly" the leading mobile Web sports site in 2009, reaching more than three times the audience of its nearest competitor. It was the 8th most-trafficked site on the mobile Web in 2009.
Citing Nielsen Mobile data, ESPN reports it averaged 8.93 million unique visitors a month, a 35 percent increase over the same period a year ago. ESPN's international mobile Web sites also saw marked growth. Visits to ESPNSoccernet Mobile were up 379 percent and visits to ESPNCricinfo Mobile increased 113 percent compared to 2008, according to Omniture Analytics.
Traffic peaked in November when ESPN's mobile Web site notched its third straight record month, surpassing the 11 million unique visitor threshold for the first time. ESPN captured 70 percent of the total mobile sports category traffic, a 37 percent growth over a year ago. ESPN says traffic was heaviest between 7-11 p.m. during the week and 1-4 p.m. on weekends (with additional spikes between 6-8 p.m.). Sundays were the most trafficked days in November.
Across all carriers, unique viewers of on-demand ESPN Mobile video increased 87 percent compared with 2008 and total minutes spent viewing on-demand mobile video increased 106 percent.