Years ago, fantasy football was just something guys did with their friends as an obscure hobby during the regular football season. Today, however, fantasy football is becoming a central part of football. Along the way, it has evolved into a booming, multi-billion dollar business.
But how did it get this way, and what is the future? The future is bright, and I’m talking bright to the tune of billion dollar growths each year for the next three to four years.
NFL partnership and marketing to the young generation are making fantasy football less of a hobby and more a way of life.
Long gone are the days of pen and paper fantasy football leagues among close friends. Today, you can download hundreds of apps and buy countless guides and products all geared toward making your fantasy football league as successful as possible.
With that being said, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that the concept of fantasy football just raked in one billion dollars within the last year. While baseball and basketball are taken into account, fantasy football is by and away the largest, most popular and most profitable section of the fantasy sports arena.
The average fantasy football fan spends an average of $467 each year on their fantasy league, according to a Forbes article. Taken a step further, the average fan spends three hours per week managing their league, not accounting for time spent reading or studying up on fantasy football.
From an opportunity cost perspective, taking the average wage in America at $24 per hour, that adds up to roughly $29 billion of time value per year! This is insane to think about when millions of Americans are spending hours and hours, as well as hundreds of dollars, on fantasy football. According to Fox Business, the industry itself is growing 11 percent per year with no indication of slowing down.
The fantasy football business strategy is a win-win. Someone interested can make a team and choose whether they want to spend money on their league or just have one for fun.
Meanwhile, the advertisers are able to reach the critical and revered 18-to-24-year-old male demographic while making profits from the “freemium” model of fantasy football. By freemium, I mean that it is free to join and make a league but there are certain features one can pay for–perhaps to give advantages that free users don’t have.
Many college students are involved in fantasy football leagues, but some do not spend money out of pocket just yet, like junior Colby McHugh.
“I have a free fantasy football team with my friends, but it’s just for fun now. I can see myself spending money on one in the future, though.” McHugh said.
This feeling is pretty common among students, and the people behind fantasy sports are all too eager to cater to the younger fans when they are ready to start spending money.
So what does this mean for the fans of fantasy football? Well, the business is great, the NFL fully supports it as it takes in lots of revenue for advertising throughout fantasy football, and the future looks great with more innovation and more ways to enjoy the game both on and off the field.
