Chatalas Shrugged

Fantasy sports began as a small hobby and have become a major industry. Since the turn of the century fantasy sports have emerged as an American pastime, immersed in our sports culture and conversation. Due in large part to the Internet, fantasy sports participation is skyrocketing, businesses are booming, and fantasy-related editorial content is commonplace.

In fantasy sports, participants own, draft and manage fictional teams of professional athletes; these fantasy teams compete against others, and the statistics generated in actual games determine the league results and winners. Fantasy football and baseball were the first of the genre, and they remain the most popular, but there are also leagues for basketball, hockey, auto racing, soccer, and other sports (Stats, Incorporated, 2004).

In a prior paper we traced the evolution and growth of fantasy sports through the 1990s. This paper will examine the current and future state of the industry. It will dissect the demographics of fantasy hobbyists, and how businesses are catering to this coveted market. We will analyze why people play fantasy sports in the context of uses and gratifications theory. And this paper will also assess the future of fantasy sports, including the role of technology in its continued growth.

Who Plays Fantasy Sports, and Why?
White Professional Males Invest Money and Time
As is common in any growing industry, research has been conducted into fantasy sports and its participants. The 2006 Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) study shows that over 15 million people play in some sort of fantasy sports league, generating $1.5 billion in revenue and growing at nearly 10 percent per year (FSTA, 2006). Dr. Kim Beason of the University of Mississippi, who was commissioned to conduct the FSTA survey, provided the general profile of a typical fantasy sports hobbyist: a 36-year-old male, college educated, who owns his home and has an average household income of over $60,000. Similarly, Donald Levy’s 2004 sociological study of 1,200 fervent fantasy players showed the participants to be significantly white-collar professionals; 98 percent male, 94 percent white, 69 percent college educated and with household incomes of $90,000 (Levy, 2005).

Going beyond mere demographics, though, shows the depth to which fantasy sports players are engaged in this pasttime. The FSTA study shows participants are spending nearly $400 a year on fantasy sports. Most have been playing the game for more than nine years, and are in more than two fantasy leagues. And the time spent on this hobby is eye-opening, too, as the average fantasy players dedicate three hours per week managing their fantasy teams, and 30 minutes a day just thinking about fantasy sports. They pore over free and paid content, and regularly consult their league websites.

It’s said that time is money, and workplace consultant Challenger, Gray and Christmas says fantasy football costs companies in lost productivity by employees to the amount of over $195 million annually (Boyle, 2005). Challenger, though, also cautioned against a workplace crackdown on fantasy sports due to the potential for decreasing morale among employees.

Women are not particularly prevalent in fantasy leagues, and make up less than 10 percent of those partaking in the hobby (FSTA, 2006). Nikolas Davis and Margaret Duncan indicate that fantasy sports reaffirm masculine ideals through characteristics such as control, sports knowledge, competition and male bonding (Davis and Duncan, 2006). Their study shows a perpetuated commonality between the male-dominated sports world and that of fantasy sports, and that masculinity factors are likely deterring women from participating at a greater rate. Indeed, women have just as easy access to the tools to play fantasy sports (computers, information), but haven’t made taking part a priority.

What Explains the Enthusiasm for Fantasy Sports?
In conducting interviews and consulting studies for this project, I’ve found striking similarities in the results. Applying uses and gratifications theory leads to understanding the motivations of those who play fantasy sports.

As detailed in the first paper, Blumler and Katz’s model for this theory identifies four general types of gratifications: escapism, social interaction, personal identity and surveillance. And Stafford, Stafford and Schkade’s “Determining Uses and Gratifications for the Internet” discerned three primary gratifications, which fall into these categories: content (surveillance and finding information), process (escapism/entertainment in the use of the Internet), and social (social interaction) (Stafford, Stafford & Schkade, 2004).

In personal interviews with several fantasy hobbyists the reasons given for playing fantasy sports clearly align with the uses and gratifications model.

Chief among reasons for playing is social interaction. Most started playing with people they know, as an activity with friends. Bogey’s (interview, November 20, 2007) league, in its 29th season, still has many of the same guys from the league’s early days back in the fraternity. Tony Robinson (interview, November 23, 2007) states that leagues with little camaraderie don’t hold his interest, and in many cases haven’t endured.

The entertainment factor is prevalent as well. Vince Iverson (interview, November 23, 2007) says playing fantasy sports makes following the professional sports more fun. JC Clark (interview, November 23, 2007) says his fantasy football teams lead to him paying closer attention to professional football. Clark also claims that the most fun is trying to put together a good team for the objective of winning and bragging rights.

Surveillance is present in terms of following statistics, news, teams and the league. Most players want to do well in their fantasy leagues, and frequently access information they hope will help their teams succeed. Robinson subscribes to a service that provides him inside information, and all of those interviewed look online and in magazines for tips and updates. Clark also uses his phone to track his players’ performance on game days during the season.

Iverson says that “fantasy teams become a part of you,” taking on the element of personal identity. Robinson says that he “gets bummed out” when one of his teams is struggling.

Taking this uses and gratifications approach even further is the Farquhar and Meeds study “Types of Fantasy Sports Users and Their Motivations”, which applies uses and gratifications directly to the hobbyists. Much of what is mentioned above is borne out in this research, but with slightly different terminology and categories. The study identifies five types of fantasy sports players: casual players, skilled players, thrill-seekers, trash-talkers and formatives. And the players in those categories are motivated by two primary factors, surveillance and arousal (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007).

The authors note those motivated by surveillance enjoyed the statistics and strategies, and believe fantasy sports are a game of skill; the casual and skilled players fell into this category. So, too, to some degree did the newer players (formatives), who also had elements of arousal; it’s noted, though, that in time the formatives will likely move into another player type and settle on a single motivating factor.

The arousal category applied to thrill-seekers and trash-talkers, and somewhat to casual players. These player types enjoy the excitement of winning, see fantasy sports as games of chance, and don’t spend significant time or money on it. Social interaction, surprisingly, wasn’t deemed to be an important influence of motivation; this is most likely due to the focus of this study being online participation, which would overlook the friendship aspect of many leagues.

It is worth mentioning Chris Jones’ comments, which stand in contrast to those of the fantasy enthusiasts described above. Over the last few years Jones (interview, November 23, 2007) has quit all his fantasy leagues after playing since the early 1990s. He says that the game was interfering with his ability to enjoy watching sports events such as football and baseball games. By shedding himself of his fantasy teams, he now doesn’t worry about his players’ performances, and can instead focus on his favorite teams and the game in general.

Escapism as a Motivation to Play Fantasy Sports
Others say the interest in fantasy sports can be attributed in some part to the fact that it is imaginary. Sports fans have gradually become tired of many aspects of pro sports, including players leaving the hometown team, high salaries, pro athletes’ legal woes, steroids and other issues. Bryan Curtis noted in the New York Times that it is incorrect to assume that people are playing fantasy baseball because of our love of baseball. “In fact, we play fantasy baseball because it shields us from all that we hate about it” (Curtis, 2007).

Similarly, Sam Walker covered sports for the Wall Street Journal, and over the years had consciously avoided playing fantasy sports. But he noticed that the bulk of his baseball stories focused not on the actual games, but on other facets of the sport.

“Rather than researching stories at the ballpark, most of my baseball coverage consisted of… talking in conspiratorial whispers to labor lawyers, agents, investment bankers, doping experts, orthopedic surgeons, insurance brokers, disgruntled umpires, and vituperative taxpayers. … I was so caked in baseball muck that I couldn’t watch a ballgame without working myself into a lather about some tangential issue. … It was then that I actually started to envy those Rotisserie nutjobs.” (Walker, 2006).

Walker applied to play fantasy baseball at the highest level, and was accepted into Tout Wars, a league filled with veritable fantasy experts. He chronicled his experience in his New York Times bestselling book “Fantasyland: A Sportswriter’s Obsessive Bid to Win the Worlds Most Ruthless Fantasy Baseball League.”

The Business of Fantasy Sports
The Fantasy Sports Market
When a hobby such as fantasy sports seeps into popular culture, it influences business and media content decisions. Fantasy sports are an easy and cost-effective way for advertisers to reach an attractive consumer market. Marketers know this is an opportunity to create a long-term connection with a customer. The median age of fantasy sports players is 36 years old, and they are fully expected to play over several more decades (FSTA, 2006).

Beyond the appealing demographics, businesses are keenly interested in the amount of time fantasy sports players spend devouring fantasy-related information. The research mentioned previously demonstrates fantasy sports players are dedicated to their hobby, and businesses are finding that commitment to be beneficial to them as well. At the beginning of the 2007 football season, CBS SportsLine counted more that 100,000 visits, with each visitor spending an average of 96 minutes at the site for the month; the company attributes the bulk of the lengthy visits to fantasy sports (Chaffin, 2007).

Which leads to the money factor. The yearly revenue generated by fantasy sports is estimated to be $1.5 to $2 billion. Of this amount, consumer purchases of magazines, league management services, and products that provide “insider” information make up hundreds of million dollars (Benderoff, 2007). Advertising and sponsorship sales on major media websites, including ESPN, Yahoo! and CBS SportsLine contribute significantly to that overall total. And technological purchases, including enhanced mobile data applications and wireless connections for sports viewing, push the annual total to the low billions (Benderoff).

The Fantasy Sports Industry
With so much money at stake, hundreds of companies are hungry for a piece of the financial pie; the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA), which represents the industry, boasts a membership of 125 businesses (FSTA, 2007). Included among the many businesses in the fantasy market are: league management services (ESPN, CBS SportsLine, Yahoo!); statistical services (USA Stats, CustomStat, Stats, Inc.); “insider” content providers (RotoWorld, RotoWire, Baseball HQ); and print publications helping players prepare for their fantasy drafts (Fantasy Football Index, The Sporting News, USA Today’s Fantasy Weekly). There are also others finding niches, including memorabilia sales (trophies, rings, jerseys), draft kits (boards with color coded names), and technological services (mobile data, NFL and MLB television channels).

The two primary economic models for fantasy sports are paid and free services and content. Independent fantasy league websites typically charge their users, while the large networks such as ESPN, Fox and CBS have a wide-enough reach that their sites can choose between the two options (Miller, 2005). Pay for service brings in subscription fees, while free services attract more users and thus generate more advertising revenue. Some companies have bounced back and forth between the paid and free options based on market conditions. During ad downturns, companies may be more apt to charge for services to make up for lost ad revenue; but when ad sales are good, the large companies are prone to the free model, which attracts more fantasy players and ad dollars (Miller).

CBS SportsLine has been free or paid at different times over the decade. But it’s now utilizing the pay model; it reasons that pay leagues are a “much higher bar to participation, and give advertisers more confidence in what they’re getting.” (Miller). Yahoo! provides free league services, but also charges up to $125 per league for the premium fantasy package, which includes in-game scoring. ESPN has moved to free services. Since doing so, it’s seen fantasy football league participation double each of the last two years (Benderoff).

Advertising and Sponsorship Sales
In the cases of both paid and free options, advertising sales are a major source of income for many fantasy sports businesses. Advertising and sponsorship opportunities are in demand in the effort to access this engaged and affluent market. Fantasy websites are filled with ads, as are fantasy print publications. Major sponsorships can cost millions of dollars, while smaller sponsorships are around a half million. Yahoo! recently has sold sponsorships to major brand companies such as Toyota, Heineken and Viagra (Chaffin).

Still, amid heavy ad sales, only recently have the large networks begun to move beyond the common banner ads and sponsor buttons (Klaasen, 2006). MSN/Fox is now incorporating its MSN Messenger into live fantasy scoring. CBS SportsLine is selling session-based ad units where an advertiser can follow a user more deeply into his website visit. And ESPN sells packages that reach across its many media offerings, which include fantasy podcasts, radio shows and a weekly show dedicated to the subject (Klaasen).

Fantasy Sports Content
Fantasy sports content is an element companies give great consideration in the quest to sell advertising and subscriptions. Fantasy hobbyists regularly access information that will help them draft and manage their teams, including statistics, projections, injury reports, trade rumors, and minor league performance. And like fantasy league websites and services, content can be either paid or free.

Paid content is fairly common. There are many smaller businesses with fantasy and statistical expertise that charge for this inside information, including Fantasy Guru, RotoWire, Baseball HQ, FantasyBaseball, and TheFantasyConsutant. Ron Shandler’s Baseball HQ is among those at the head of the baseball subscription class; his website has about 7,500 paying customers at a yearly fee of $100, and he sells ancillary publications as well (Walker). Many websites have free offerings, but charge for greater depth of analysis and information. ESPN, for example, has free league services, but charges for analysis and information. RotoWorld has some free content (with ads on those pages), but also keeps more in-depth content set aside for those willing to pay.

The big networks clearly see the opportunities for revenue generated by fantasy sports, and have made this a priority in their sports coverage. ESPN has increased its fantasy content across all its media platforms: television and radio broadcasts, magazine articles, online features and mobile phone updates. It’s also using its television and radio assets to promote its fantasy products; on Sundays the network runs a fantasy football pre-game show (Chaffin). Also, these networks can take advantage of their contracts to carry certain sports on television to create a synergy with fantasy sports; CBS, ESPN, Fox and NBC all carry NFL football games, Fox and ESPN have baseball, and CBS has golf.

Delving further into technological offerings, fantasy content is being incorporated into the television, Internet and mobile businesses. Fantasy games are proving to deepen a user’s interest in watching a wider variety of games (Miller); for example, a Seattle Seahawks fan will likely watch other games in order to follow his fantasy players. Since so many homes now have high-speed connections, fans can pay to watch up to six games on the computer at one time at Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV. For those without constant access to the computer, fantasy players can get updates of the latest homerun or touchdown via a text message to their mobile phone (Benderoff).

Meanwhile, print publications continue to appear on the newsstands. The number of fantasy sports magazines on the market is substantial. Bruce Taylor, who in 1987 co-founded Fantasy Football Index, says there are approximately 30 football magazines each year and about seven fantasy baseball publications (B. Taylor, interview, November 18, 2007). Taylor says his football magazine has a yearly paid circulation of 220,000 and a strong ad sales base. The print publications do have online content, too. Fantasy Football Index charges for its web offerings; Taylor mentions that his company wants to be careful not to cannibalize the magazine’s advertising sales with its online product. Traditional sports magazines like The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated have fantasy content in their publications and on their websites.

Daniel Woodward covers the diffusion of fantasy sports content by the media in his dissertation “A Whole New Ballgame: How Fantasy Sports Has Evolved in the Mass Media.” The study details how the media uses fantasy sports material in their products. His study finds that the Internet is where fantasy content is most prevalent, and that the amount and quality of fantasy content varies widely among newspapers, magazines, radio, and television stations. He notes that national media outlets (such as ESPN and The Sporting News) are more likely to have fantasy content than local media (Woodward, 2006).

Legal Issues Concerning Fantasy Sports
Fantasy sports have been successful as a hobby and a business; so far they have also met success on the legal front. In two recent cases, fantasy sports have found protection in congress and the courtroom.

One issue is whether fantasy sports are considered gambling, and thus subject to sports gambling laws. In their study “Gambling in a Fantasy World: An Exploratory Study of Rotisserie Baseball Games,” Bernhard and Eade say that if gambling can be defined as risking something of value on a yet-to-be-determined event, then fantasy sports fits the description (Bernhard & Eade, 2005). However, the Unlawful Internet Enforcement Act of 2006 specifically exempts fantasy sports from its definition of illegal online gambling. The bill states that fantasy sports or simulation sports games have “an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants” and “an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events…” and can’t be categorized as chance (Masse, 2007). The fantasy sports exemption ran contrary to some prior legal assessments regarding the matter. A 2002 comment in the San Diego Law Review said that fantasy sports violate federal and state laws, and should be prohibited. “…it is likely that contestants rely more on chance than on their skill in choosing athletes… and the fantasy sports business should be closed down” (Anonymous, 2002). Previously, a proposed bill aimed at preventing fantasy sports businesses, failed in Congress in 1999 (Masse).

Another legal decision that favored fantasy sports involves licensing of player names and statistics. In 2005 CBC Distribution and Marketing, a fantasy sports league company, sued Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association after it was denied a new licensing agreement for its fantasy baseball game. CBC argued that player names and statistics are protected by the first amendment. In 2006, US District Judge Mary Ann Medler ruled for CBC, holding that statistics are part of the public domain and are not covered by right of publicity laws (Van Voris, 2007). The decision was appealed, but the St. Louis federal appeals court upheld the decision in October, 2007.
Legal studies of the CBC vs. MLB case affirm fantasy sports’ rights to statistics. Dana Howells writes in the Berkeley Technology Law Journal that the lawsuit was decided properly, and that fantasy games “do not threaten the ability of MLB teams or players to earn a profit” (Howells, 2007). And Zachary Bolitho, in the Ohio State Law Journal, says that although the fantasy sports industry should prevail in matters of copyright and publicity, the issues are such that “fantasy sports and intellectual property law will continue to collide,” and quite possibly will need to be resolved by the US Supreme Court (Bolitho, 2006).

Looking Ahead – The Future of Fantasy Sports
We will next take a look at what the future will hold for the fantasy sports industry and experience. Fantasy sports participation and revenues are growing almost 10 percent annually, and expansion is expected to continue (FSTA, 2006). There will be new fantasy products and games, and technology will be at the forefront, providing even easier access to information, and a greater ability to network with one another. And the most common innovations will be in Internet, television and mobile technologies.

At present there are several initiatives underway with an eye toward the future. Television is getting on board by offering products aimed at fantasy sports players. Among these are television packages that include every game, and which can be interactive with fantasy stats and injury updates. Another is the Red Zone package, which automatically changes the channel whenever a team is on the verge of scoring (Klaassen).

Several companies are coming up with products that aim to make playing fantasy sports more convenient and enjoyable. Most fantasy players have multiple teams; 34 percent have 2-3 leagues, 20 percent have 4-5 leagues, and 26 percent have 6 or more leagues (Stats, Incorporated, 2004). FSDashboard wants to help players track all their teams on one website. And Screamingsports.com is working on promoting a social networking site where players manage their various teams, but also can store video clips, pictures, blog posts and trash talk (Benderoff).

As Internet television becomes more common there will be greater continuity between the two, and more integration between actual and fantasy games. TiVo is already a partner with CBS SportsLine. It is working on a product where customers can watch the game and access fantasy statistical information via remote control (Weinstein, 2006). Farther along, there may be ways to have your players appear on split screens so you can follow their performances live. Yahoo! and Intel are partners, and they’re working together to promote Intel’s home entertainment network Viiv by carrying Yahoo! Sports for TV (Weinstein); very soon the fantasy element (and Yahoo!’s significant fantasy constituency) will play a role in this relationship.

Continuing the trend for easier access to information, fantasy sports league providers will surely supplement their offerings with extras such as podcast and instant message updates. And mobile devices will allow participants to immerse themselves in fantasy sports as they engage in their regular daily activities. A company named 4info will soon be offering a free mobile service that will provide scores, player updates and team news to your cellular phone; at the bottom of each message will be an ad (Benderoff).

I can also foresee the professional leagues getting into the fantasy games to a larger degree. Since the leagues haven’t been able to beat fantasy sports in the courtroom, they may as well join the game. The leagues already have partnerships with major media corporations that have a fantasy presence. Expect to see these bedfellows work to corner the market, engage in considerable cross-promotional efforts, and suppress innovation. The stadiums and ballparks where the games are played will probably also begin to provide more fantasy content for those attending; while it is already common to see scores from around the league on the scoreboard, we may very well see up-to-the-moment statistical performances as they are occurring.

In terms of growth potential, we should see increased fantasy activity in the sports that aren’t currently being played much. Auto racing is already at 10 percent of the fantasy market, and golf makes up 7 percent (Stats, Inc., 2004), but considering the number of fans these sports have the fantasy participation will likely move upward. And soccer is the most popular sport in the world, yet is essentially untapped as a fantasy sport; fantasy soccer very well could attract a huge international audience. Lastly, we should see an increase in female particpation; currently women make up less than 10 percent of fantasy players (FSTA, 2006). But as the game becomes more popular in the workplace, I expect that more women will take part in the action, much as they have in NCAA basketball tournament brackets.

Variations of the typical fantasy sports games will be emerging online as well. LiveHive Systems is introducing an interactive game for players viewing the same football or baseball game on their computers (Benderoff). Players will predict whether the next play will be a run or pass in football, or a hit or out in baseball, and accumulate points and win prizes from sponsoring companies. Other games will include head-to-head football, where two players in a league can hold a quick draft of players and have a one-day tournament, or in baseball friends could rapidly pull together a homerun derby. Where elements of gambling are involved, there is usually no shortage of creativity in finding ways to make sporting events more exciting.

The fantasy sports formula has proven so successful that there will be a continued push to adopt it to other areas of popular culture. Over the last few years, leagues have started in such categories as politics (fantasy congress), law (fantasy supreme court), fashion and entertainment. CBS is currently thinking about a Hollywood game where players would draft celebrities and score points based on how they perform at the box office, whether they become pregnant, enter rehab, or are arrested (Chaffin). There are so many topics of sincere interest to people that surely a multitude of other fantasy spin-offs will emerge. And as with fantasy sports, the Internet and its interactivity will help publicize and popularize these newly created games.

Conclusion
Fantasy sports have risen steadily in popularity since their founding in the 1960s. But rapid growth took place at the turn of the century as the hobby embraced technology, particularly the Internet. With millions of participants annually, the fantasy sports industry is burgeoning; billions of dollars are being spent each year. And looking forward, businesses are dedicated to creating new products and content aimed at this desirable and lucrative market. So even as fantasy sports are greatly popular now, the potential for future growth seems unlimited.

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