In the US sports teams, advertisers, agencies, television stations, and broadcast and cable networks will now be able to access viewership and length of exposure across all sponsorship placed media on any televised sporting event. The new service Sponsorship Scorecard will launch on 1 July with a limited number of advertisers and sports clubs.

Nielsen issued a release stating that it had completed a test of the service by measuring Murdoch's Fox's baseball telecast of the Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees, earlier this month. Among in stadium sponsors, Fleet Bank, Ford, Volvo, Bob’s Store and fast food major McDonalds topped the list with the highest - 0.05 equivalent total impressions among Adults 18+.

The company noted that the sports sponsorship industry had grown to become a multi-billion dollar business. Advertisers in America are increasingly recognising the value of their association with sports teams and sport franchises. Nielsen claims that the new initiative is a natural progression for its sports clients who have asked it to help develop a more effective tool for measuring sports sponsorships.

Nielsen is following the restricted launch route as it wants feedback from the clients regarding enhancements of the web delivered service. It will go in for a full launch in the last quarter of the year.