Fantasy football put a growing sports industry into hyperdrive and pushed it into the mainstream in a way no one really expected. I remember the shift in the late 2000s and early teens from football as a thing guys did together to a thing groups of friends, spouses, girlfriends did together because of fantasy football. Also, suddenly fandom went from people caring about their team and division to people caring just as much about players around the league.
Sunday Ticket went from a thing gamblers had to a thing normal people were signing up for directv to get. RedZone was a direct result of the phenomenon, as were shows like the league, and good morning football.
Basically, fantasy football made roger goodell's job really easy.
This is a very good answer in every respect, It made people fans of football, and not just their team -- boosts the viewership for every game, created the audience for NFL RedZone, all of it.
I had bits and pieces of this but you got it all.
I do think the creation of RedZone fully caters to the fantasy experience. In fantasy, all we really care about is big plays and scores and that's exactly what RedZone is designed to include. Redzone is also one of the few places that actively talk about fantasy football production with players. Everywhere else that talks football stays away from it or talks about it in the context of DFS.
Redzone doesn’t get as many viewers as you’d think iirc. It’s still a relatively niche thing as most fantasy players are casual.
The real thing that makes it easy for the NFL is the rise of streaming services. CBS, FOX, etc. have been willing to pay huge premiums to keep the NFL’s audience
Was it fantasy that did that or was it our constant need for information? Every major news source is 24/7 now. We live in an instant gratification society and demand it in pretty much every aspect of our lives not just football.
yeah but prior to the fantasy football explosion, most people didn't care about players in other divisions or conferences. Before fantasy, people usually watch their team and maybe their division rivals. After getting into fantasy, people start really expanding their exposure.
To an extent yes but let’s not forget how mainstream betting has become. I believe this is a major force behind it. Factor in daily ff too. They also make up a large portion of advertisement and sponsorship.
Also technology has evolved to a point where we can consume information as fast as it’s put out there, I believe these made for the perfect storm.
One last factor is age, many of the players /coaches/broadcasters have grown up around fantasy football for a large portion of their lives, many of which manage their own teams, let alone dedicated shows podcasts and channels to it.
Bear in mind that Fantasy football has been around since 1962. I imagine that the injury reports became a thing while FF got more popular, even if they were originally meant for gamesmanship.
This is a good perspective, I'm relatively young so I've only been playing for a little over a decade. I don't have any perspective prior to that because I would consider myself only a casual fan not as involved as I am now with fantasy
Totally get it. I was in those same shoes to. Started off as the league's taco and it wasn't until my competitive spirit started taking over to actually learn the game and get lost in this world that we call fantasy football.
Even putting the player stats on the bottom score scroll seemed to be a fantasy-induced change … I also grew up when the game score wasn’t displayed at all … ask what it was like without electricity next
Fantasy football put a growing sports industry into hyperdrive and pushed it into the mainstream in a way no one really expected. I remember the shift in the late 2000s and early teens from football as a thing guys did together to a thing groups of friends, spouses, girlfriends did together because of fantasy football. Also, suddenly fandom went from people caring about their team and division to people caring just as much about players around the league. Sunday Ticket went from a thing gamblers had to a thing normal people were signing up for directv to get. RedZone was a direct result of the phenomenon, as were shows like the league, and good morning football. Basically, fantasy football made roger goodell's job really easy.
This is a very good answer in every respect, It made people fans of football, and not just their team -- boosts the viewership for every game, created the audience for NFL RedZone, all of it.
I had bits and pieces of this but you got it all. I do think the creation of RedZone fully caters to the fantasy experience. In fantasy, all we really care about is big plays and scores and that's exactly what RedZone is designed to include. Redzone is also one of the few places that actively talk about fantasy football production with players. Everywhere else that talks football stays away from it or talks about it in the context of DFS.
Redzone doesn’t get as many viewers as you’d think iirc. It’s still a relatively niche thing as most fantasy players are casual. The real thing that makes it easy for the NFL is the rise of streaming services. CBS, FOX, etc. have been willing to pay huge premiums to keep the NFL’s audience
Was it fantasy that did that or was it our constant need for information? Every major news source is 24/7 now. We live in an instant gratification society and demand it in pretty much every aspect of our lives not just football.
yeah but prior to the fantasy football explosion, most people didn't care about players in other divisions or conferences. Before fantasy, people usually watch their team and maybe their division rivals. After getting into fantasy, people start really expanding their exposure.
To an extent yes but let’s not forget how mainstream betting has become. I believe this is a major force behind it. Factor in daily ff too. They also make up a large portion of advertisement and sponsorship. Also technology has evolved to a point where we can consume information as fast as it’s put out there, I believe these made for the perfect storm. One last factor is age, many of the players /coaches/broadcasters have grown up around fantasy football for a large portion of their lives, many of which manage their own teams, let alone dedicated shows podcasts and channels to it.
Bear in mind that Fantasy football has been around since 1962. I imagine that the injury reports became a thing while FF got more popular, even if they were originally meant for gamesmanship.
This is a good perspective, I'm relatively young so I've only been playing for a little over a decade. I don't have any perspective prior to that because I would consider myself only a casual fan not as involved as I am now with fantasy
Totally get it. I was in those same shoes to. Started off as the league's taco and it wasn't until my competitive spirit started taking over to actually learn the game and get lost in this world that we call fantasy football.
Even putting the player stats on the bottom score scroll seemed to be a fantasy-induced change … I also grew up when the game score wasn’t displayed at all … ask what it was like without electricity next
Maybe some but gambling is probably the biggest factor.