Most fans just want to see their favorite team win and watch rivals lose. But for fantasy sports players, it’s different. They look closely at individual stats, and sometimes cheer for players on rival teams if it will help their fantasy lineup. So, how have fantasy sports altered our perspective on following sports? Let’s take a closer look.
What are fantasy sports?
Firstly, what are fantasy sports? These are online or offline competitions in which fans set up virtual teams. In these virtual teams, the players are made up of characters of real-life sportsmen and athletes. The performance of every virtual team is directly influenced by the performance of the individual players in real life.
For example, if you have a fantasy soccer team, and a player whose virtual character is on your team has a great game and scores a hat trick in real life, it will add points to your fantasy team. If players do poorly in real life, it’s going to negatively affect your virtual team’s point score.
It’s widely believed that baseball was the first sport to have modern fantasy competitions in the United States, with the rotisserie baseball league in the 1980s, although older forms of fantasy leagues had popped up in the early 1960s. From there, the culture spread to other sports like soccer, basketball and the NFL.
Today, there are online platforms that have made fantasy sports entertainment more enjoyable and mobile. Underdog Fantasy is one such platform that offers a variety of contest formats and fantasy sports promotions, providing a diverse DFS experience for users in many US states. If you wish to read more about their brand, visit a trusted site like https://rotogrinders.com/sports-betting/underdog-fantasy.
This is an upgrade to watching from the stands or following on your TV screen; fantasy sports gaming takes one to a virtual touchline as an “unassigned coach”. Let’s look at how this has changed our perspective on the game.
Fans are no longer passive watchers
Traditionally, to be a fan meant supporting a team, watching games, celebrating team victories and feeling the heartache of a loss. However, with fantasy sports, fans are now more participatory than passive. Leading up to every game, fantasy team owners take the time to research player performances across various leagues and venues, while monitoring their fitness levels.
The beauty of fantasy sports is that a fantasy team may comprise players selected across different real-life teams. You may find a Chicago Bulls fan cheering a Los Angeles Lakers player during a real-life match, simply because the Lakers player is on their fantasy team, and a good game for him would mean more points on the game dashboard.
Fans now engage more with players and games than teams
To be successful at fantasy sports gaming, one needs to do some research. This research covers player performances in recent weeks, player history against certain opponents, and their injury reports. This deeper research helps fans draw closer to players than ever.
For example, if the Florida Gators were to play against another college football team, fans would want to go further than researching all they need to know about Florida Gators by studying the individual players. Also, fans now connect more with games that are perhaps not that popular, because they’ll want to watch the performance of a player who is on their fantasy sports team. With this, everything these players do matters, down to to the smallest detail, like how many throws, shots, rebounds or runs they made during a game.
It’s turning rivals into community pals
Entertainment in the sporting world has long thrived on rivalry, but fantasy leagues are subtly turning rivals into community pals by blurring the lines between team rivals. Take, for instance, two fans who support rival teams; they may have similar players on their respective teams. In some cases, fans who have similar players on their fantasy teams form communities. Talking about communities, fantasy sports communities are usually cross-border. The utility of the internet allows strangers from across the world to have conversations or engage in friendly banter.
It has altered viewing habits
Watching a game on one screen is no longer enough. Many fantasy sports players need a second screen – usually their smartphones – to follow up on live broadcasts. These second screens give real-time data and updates on other games not displayed on live broadcasts. Broadcast channels are also taking cues; during games, they now display stats with more details, like the area of the field covered by a player, or how many passes are completed.
This is a win-win for everyone because these changes in broadcasting styles have increased viewing time for the fans. Recognizing the impact that fantasy sports is having on fan followership, some stations have started incorporating fantasy game stats in their pre-game or break-time shows.
Some of the most followed fantasy sports platforms
The FPL: currently, the FPL has over 11 million users worldwide. It is the official fantasy platform of the English top-tier football league. Its free-to-play availability and accessible features contribute to its popularity.
ESPN Fantasy League: ESPN’s national and global reputation for sports coverage is influential in the popularity of the ESPN Fantasy League. There are a number of leagues available on the platform, covering most of America’s major sporting events.
Yahoo Fantasy: Although not as popular as ESPN Fantasy in the United States, Yahoo Fantasy entertains millions of fans. On Yahoo Fantasy, one can play Fantasy Football, Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Hockey, among others.
Why are fantasy sports attracting more fans?
Beyond entertainment and being involved with a sports community, fantasy sports gaming also indirectly offers some financial incentives. Traditionally, most fantasy sports platforms are not designed to reward fans who use their platforms. However, some fantasy sports platforms run paid contests where fans put money together, while the fan with the most team points goes home with the money.
The unstoppable rise of fantasy sports
Fantasy sports is rewriting sporting entertainment as we know it, and by all indications, there’s almost nothing we can do to stop the movement. How is it changing how we experience real-world games? It has turned fans from passive watchers into participatory followers. It’s blurring the line between rivals and creating bigger sports communities. This is not to mention how it’s altering viewing habits from solo screen watching to multi-screen viewing for better information during games.
