Week #10

Matt Snider

                One of the readings for this week dove into a topic that has ballooned into the mainstream culture more and more every year. As the article by Fortunato noted, over 30 million people participate in fantasy football every year. The question raised within the study was whether or not the practice of fantasy football contributed to higher TV ratings for any of the football games. The results of the study concluded that there was some correlation between the more highly rated football games and the amount of fantasy players that a majority of those people playing fantasy football had started in their lineups.

                To me, it seems as though the study was a little unnecessary to conduct due to the common sense nature of the whole thing. Fortunato went into detail noting the teams with higher winning percentages often drew higher tv ratings as well. Both of these facts seem to make sense without any research being conducted. If someone were to be a casual football fan would you rather watch two undefeated teams square off or would you rather watch two teams sitting at the bottom of their divisions? It seems to me as though the easy and predictable answer would be to watch and see what team is dealt their first loss.

                In addition to that concept, many teams that are successful in the NFL have a roster full of talented athletes. Talented NFL players often put up good stat lines during their respective games which then translate into a healthy fantasy football point accumulation. Then, in turn, this leads to those players becoming good fantasy players who will be owned and started in more and more fantasy leagues. Therefore it would make sense that good teams with high winning percentages or impressive records boast a roster that is made of a variety of fantasy football stars as well.

                Another topic that was hinted at the article was the motivation for playing fantasy football as well as watching the NFL. Speaking from personal experience I see fantasy football as another way sports fans can interact with football besides just watching it every Sunday or Monday (and now Thursday). It even allows a sports fan who might not be the biggest football fan an added incentive to watch the games on tv.