Topic: Fantasy Sports: A Way of Life
Research Question: How does fantasy sports impact viewing habits of sports?
How you gathered your data, challenges you faced, things you learned about research (100-200 words max)
We collected our data by sending out surveys to people that participate in fantasy sports leagues. We also interviewed four people with interview questions we put together which seemed relevant to our topic. One of the challenges we faced while putting this project together were the time frames that each part of the project was due by. Another area we had issues with was the coding that we put together since we feel that we can elaborate on the coding a bit more by adding onto it. The biggest challenge that we had is the discussion section which we did not complete. This is the biggest part of the project, and we need to finish our findings before our presentation date so that we can accurately answer what we found.
We learned that coding is a complex way of organizing data that can and cannot be used. With our knowledge that we gained about coding we have a better understanding of how to go about the process. We also learned that it takes time to collect the data that is needed to put together a paper like this. With the knowledge and experience we gained while doing this project we feel that we have the tools to create a more complete paper.
Discussion
According to Dwyer (2011) fantasy participants are driven by competitive, interactive and social qualities of fantasy sports. This can be seen through our findings from the interviews and surveys we collected. Our surveys presented evidence that some sort of prize is wanted by most participants whether it be money or gratification for winning. When it came to a money prize MarioW stated that “It’s always nice to win a money pot.” Gratification is also the reason why people like MikeD enjoy playing when he states that “It makes winning so much more enjoyable when I beat a buddy of mine.” Whatever the reason ends up being there is a sense of winning gratification that protrudes from each winner of a fantasy league. This leads us to have a better understanding on fantasy sports is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Miller and Washington (2011) take notice of this when they account that the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) estimated 27 million American adults play fantasy sports.
Fantasy participants received through resources like television, internet, or phone applications. Randle and Nyland (2008) state that sports fans can receive this information instantly through typing certain web addresses in, cable sports channels, or even through mobile phone technology. Our interviewees also supplied evidence of this by answering how each of them got their news of sports related news. All four of them stated that they do use the internet to look up news and information, while only three of the four also used television broadcasts (Sportscenter). The surprising finding in this area was that only one person from our interviews (MarioW) used mobile technology to also get their news and information. MarioW’s reasoning for this was “I am always on the go so my apps make it easy to find the information I need.”
The final area that we wanted to cover was if fantasy sports have an effect on people’s viewing of sports. According to Dwyer and Kim (2011) sport fans consume sports through event attendance, television, radio, print publications, and the internet. With these factors into the equation it makes researching the topic a little more broad with a wide variety of ways to consume sports. Dwyer (2011) supports this when he states that sports researchers have studied an array of consumer behavior by spectator motivation, identification, involvement, and loyalty to sport products and services. Our survey shows that most fantasy players feel more aware of the fantasy sport they are participating in. Most say this is because they become more knowledgeable, and it makes the game more exciting. Nesbit and King (2010) reaffirm this when they state common motivations include entertainment, passing time, information seeking, and convenience.
*Dwyer, B. (2011). Divided loyalty? An analysis of fantasy football involvement and fan loyalty to
individual National Football League (NFL) teams. Journal of Sport Management, 25(5), 445-457.
*Dywer, B. (2011). The impact of fantasy football involvement on intentions to watch national
football league games on television. International Journal of Sport Communication, 4(3), 375-396.
*Dwyer, B., & Kim, Y. (2011). For love or money: Developing and validating a motivational
scale for fantasy football participation. Journal Of Sport Management, 25(1), 70-83.
*Miller, R. K., & Washington, K. (2011). Chapter 5: Fantasy sports. Sports Marketing, 46-49.
*Nesbit, T. M., & King, K. A. (2010). The impact of fantasy sports on television viewership.
Journal Of Media Economics, 23(1), 24-41.
*Randle, Q., & Nyland, R. (2008). Participation in internet fantasy sports leagues and mass
media use. Journal Of Website Promotion, 3(3/4), 143-152.
Comments (16)
Tania Berlinski said
at 5:24 pm on Apr 23, 2012
1. Does age or gender seem to have an affect on who plays fantasy sports?
2. How does participating in fantasy sports affect how one interacts with sports using new media (besides looking up information for use)?
3. Did you explore if fantasy sports players view actual sports differently after they start playing? If yes, how so, and if not, why not?
4. Do fantasy sports players communicate differently with sports fans who don't play fantasy sports?
-Tania Berlinski
Tyler Gallau said
at 12:22 pm on Apr 24, 2012
1. What is one way you could have fixed your problem with time restraints?
2. How does playing fantasy sports affect those who don't play?
3. What lead you to pick this topic? Do you play fantasy sports?
4. What could you have done differently in order to get the discussion section done?
-Tyler Gallau
Jose Molina said
at 12:41 am on Apr 25, 2012
- What coding scheme did you use for the results of your research?
- How big of a difference is there between fantasy sports players’ view on sports and that of non-players?
- Doe the gain of gratifications only includes emotional satisfaction or is there anything else people can gain? (Also, besides winning money)
- Looking more into the results of your surveys, how often do individuals play fantasy sports?
-- Jose Molina
Emily Mello said
at 1:35 pm on Apr 25, 2012
1. Did you find it hard to find people who were knowledgeable enough to take your survey?
2. What kind of tools do you now have after completing this paper?
3. Do you both play fantasy sports?
4. Do you feel you were limited with time to complete the task?
dannah.sanchez said
at 3:10 pm on Apr 25, 2012
1. Did you take gender into account?
2. Do people who actively participate in fantasy sport participate/spectate real life sports?
3. What other variables did you find (that you didn't expect to come up) while coding?
4. What sparked your interest to study this topic?
Sofia Cruz said
at 7:53 pm on Apr 25, 2012
1. Do you both play fantasy sports and believe it has a significant impact on how you watch games?
2. Did you have trouble finding participants or did you get some participants who aren't knowledgeable about fantasy sports?
3. Do you think age and gender have to be taken into account on a topic like this?
4. Do you think fantasy sports can have a positive and negative way to view games?
-Sofia
maxbunag@gmail.com said
at 10:03 pm on Apr 25, 2012
1. In the era of second-screen sports, how big of a role do you think stats for fantasy teams have?
2. What was the ratio of female/male in this survey?
3. Do you think fantasy sports and video games will intersect in the future?
4. Why do you think there is such a prevalence for football and baseball in fantasy sports and not other sports?
Laurel Marshall said
at 11:01 pm on Apr 25, 2012
1. Did you have trouble finding research on this topic? Has it been thoroughly studied?
2. Are participants satisfied with only following one sport?
3. How does fantasy sports effect peoples views on 'real sports' and 'real teams?'
4. Based on your research, what are your predictions for the future of fantasy sports? Change? Develop?
**Laurel
Chris Valdez said
at 11:34 pm on Apr 25, 2012
1. As a fantasy sports player, I find myself constantly checking my phone for stat updates. Was this an issue/question you guys had?
2. Was gender a question/factor?
3. How much time do these fantasy players put in weekly?
4. How many people were surveyed?
michael sheng said
at 2:06 am on Apr 26, 2012
1. What was the sample size of people that actually participate in fantasy sports leagues?
2. Did people access fatasy sports more through mobile or other source?
3. What was the biggest gratification people got from participating in fantasy sports leagues?
4. What was the main reason people participated in fantasy sports leagues?
Adrienne Goguen said
at 9:07 am on Apr 26, 2012
1. Did you know all the people you surveyed? or did you just send it out to random fantasy players?
2. Are fantasy sports turning into more of an online game or do people still do it in person? Did this effect your results?
3. Does fantasy sports effect the viewing or participation in the actual game itself? Or do people who participate in fantasy only look for stats rather than just watching the game?
4. Is it mainly males who participate in fantasy sports, or are there women as well?
valentina berry said
at 9:14 am on Apr 26, 2012
1. Have you guys ever participated in a Fantasy sports team league?
2. How many surveys were collected?
3. Was the amount of time they fantasy players put into their team a factor?
4. Did you find a difference between female and male participants who had a fantasy team?
Alex Torres said
at 10:15 am on Apr 26, 2012
Wilkerson and Bateman
1. Regarding data collection and analysis: What would you do differently?
2. What’s the most popular site?
3. Is fantasy football more popular with men or woman?
4. Is there a lot of research involve, when picking teams?
matt.collins209@... said
at 10:33 am on Apr 26, 2012
1) How common is it for people to play fantasy sports?
2) Do either of you play fantasy sports?
3) Did you have trouble getting enough people to do the online survey?
4) Was gender an influence?
Brian Toback said
at 11:02 am on Apr 26, 2012
1. Do both of you play fantasy sports?
2. Does one's age or gender affect they way they play these Fantasy Sports?
3. What's the main reason you found for people to play Fantasy Sports?
4. How many surveys were answered out of the ones you sent out?
Ansel Modesto said
at 12:29 pm on Apr 26, 2012
1. Have you came across any crazy stories that have occurred because of the competition of Fantasy Sports?
2. Where the outlooks of Fantasy Sports different between genders? age?
3. How do the Fantasy Sports tournaments work?
4. Was there a team in which all particpants tried to grab at least one player from?
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