With the NFL preseason beginning this week, football fans
can rejoice as one of America’s most popular spectator sports begins anew. But are
the games what fans are really most excited about?
Fantasy football seems to be an unstoppable and ever-growing
aspect of NFL fandom. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, an estimated 35 million people played fantasy sports in North America last year, with a large majority of that participation likely from fantasy
football. That participation will only increase this season, with more and more
fans being introduced to the game every year. Even before the preseason began,
popular websites that host fantasy sports like ESPN.com and Yahoo.com opened up
their fantasy functionality, giving fans weeks to draft and prepare for the
upcoming season. ESPN even devoted the entire August issue of their magazine to the subject. Even I can admit to getting too carried away with the
phenomenon. I’ve already joined/re-joined 4 leagues, many of which have already
conducted drafts.
I’m really curious to see how fantasy sports, fantasy
football in particular, advance in popularity over the next few years. With the
modern advancements in technology and the introduction of younger fans to the game, I wouldn’t be surprised if participation increase exponentially in the
years to come.
It’s also interesting to see how large fantasy-hosting companies have
noticed the games’ popularity and have catered to its users. ESPN and Yahoo
have mobile apps that users can integrate onto their smartphones and keep track
of their teams while they’re watching the actual games. By investing this
heavily in fantasy football, it’s easy to get distracted while watching, and may
even cause conflicts between NFL fandom and fantasy participation.
The following excerpt is from a research paper I wrote last
year about this very subject:
“There are times
that I might care about fantasy football more than actually watching the games.
For example, I own Ben Roethlisberger on one of my fantasy teams.
Roethlisberger’s team, the Pittsburg Steelers, was playing my favorite team,
the New England Patriots, a few weekends ago. This situation presented a huge
conflict of interest. I wanted Big Ben to play well because it would greatly
help my fantasy team, but I also wanted the Patriots to win because they’re my
favorite real life team. So whenever Roethlisberger would complete a big pass
play or a touchdown, I’d be both happy and angry. In the end, I’ll always side
with my fandom of the Patriots, but it’s definably scary to see how fantasy has
drastically altered the way that I watch football.”
What do you think? Will fantasy sports eventually disconnect
fans with actual gameplay? Will fantasy sports ever mean more than or usurp the
popularity/fandom of the games themselves?
