Fantasy League Athletes
Virtual Competition A Marketing Boon For Pros
By Jim Lachimia

Fantasy football leagues have become wildly popular here in the good ol' U.S. of A. You want evidence? How about the fact you can no longer watch an NFL game in peace without some hammerhead babbling on incessantly about which players are on his fantasy team or who he has deftly put in the line-up that week.

Baseball was definitely the pioneer in fantasy sports. Its rotisserie leagues - as they were once called - have been around for more than 20 years. However, there is little doubt football has taken over as king of the fantasy sports world - and not just because it's America's most popular sport.

Because teams play only one game a week, little is required in terms of investment of time. Plus, although some fantasy football leagues now incorporate defensive stats such as tackles, sacks and interceptions, for the most part they involve only offensive skills players. Bone up on the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers and you're ready to put a team together.

According to Dan Masonson, a spokesman for the NFL, approximately 300,000 people participated in free fantasy football leagues offered on NFL.com during the 2000 season. That number jumped to 1 million in 2001, and then 1.8 million last season. Masonson also said the NFL estimates somewhere between 7.5 million and 10 million people play fantasy football on-line industry wide.

What's more, a research group called Copernicus told the NFL that fans who participate in fantasy leagues watch games on television an average of two hours more per week than the non-playing football fan. The league's Nielsen numbers in November of 2002 were a record 13 million - with a boost from rabid fantasy leaguers thirsting for information about their favorite players.

'Those numbers were because the playoff races were heating up, but they were also because the fantasy leagues were hitting their stride,' Masonson said. 'Obviously, diehard fans are more involved in fantasy leagues, but the internet has helped the more casual fan get involved. That's been what's responsible for the rapid growth. You no longer have to pour over the numbers and calculate things on paper. It's much more instantaneous.'

Gregg Klayman, the Director of Fantasy and Interactive Games for MLB.com, agrees that the internet has contributed greatly to the increased popularity of fantasy sports by helping streamline the process. In short, it's a lot less cumbersome to run a fantasy baseball team these days.

'The internet has made it so there's nothing you can't find out after clicking the mouse a few times,' Klayman said. 'With baseball, in the past you basically had to rely on box scores in the morning papers, and even then if you lived on the East coast you didn't get the West coast games because they ended too late. So you never knew how half your team did.'

Klayman said Major League Baseball - with the help of an organization called the Fantasy Sports Trade Association - is conducting a national survey to determine how many people are participating in fantasy baseball leagues.

'It's obviously in the millions, but I don't know how many millions,' Klayman said. 'If I had to estimate, I would say probably five million or maybe a little bit more than that. The exact number is something we will hopefully get in the next few months once this research is done. What I do know is that we've had more than a half million people a year participate in fantasy baseball on our site alone over the last few years.'

As is the case with football, the residual effect of fantasy leagues is beneficial for baseball. Fans are more locked into what's happening in the game on a league-wide basis. They become aware of all the players, not just the superstars. Their interest in the sport is heightened and their enjoyment of the season is enhanced.

'You'll have players on your team from all across the league so almost every game, every night, there is going to be somebody playing that you're going to have interest in,' Klayman said. 'No longer, if you're say a Yankee fan, are you focusing just on the Yankees. You may be watching the Yankee game, but you care more about the out-of-town games, and more about the National League games. It really helps fans to learn the players and learn the league. When you play fantasy sports, you're going to know everyone from the middle relievers of the Cincinnati Reds to the stars in the American League.'

'We view fantasy football as another great way for fans to get involved with the NFL,' Masonson said. 'It really makes fans feel like they're part of the game. The feedback we get is that fantasy league players are often watching games on TV, and they're listening to games on NFL.com simultaneously.'

Basketball and hockey also have fantasy leagues these days, although basketball is a distant third to football and baseball, and hockey registers the same as it does as a sport - dead last. But the fantasy sports world is becoming more diversified all the time. CBSSportsline.com, one of the websites that has contributed greatly to the explosion of fantasy sports, is currently offering leagues called Fantasy Racing 2003 and Fantasy Golf 2003. In the racing version, participants select five drivers each week and team points are based on your drivers' Winston Cup points. In the golf league, five players are picked and team points are determined by number of holes under par, driving distance, and overall scoring.

What's next? Here's a warning: If it's women's tennis, don't draft Anna Kournikova. She's a sweet kid, but she's not going to help you much. Word is she doesn't win tournaments. Or matches for that matter.

Jim Lachimia is a former media relations director for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Kansas City Royals, and currently serves as editor of the Pirates On Deck magazine.