Networks cater to football players
''Fantasy football is out of control. I don't care that LaDainian Tomlinson has two receptions for 8 yards in the first quarter of another game that I am not even watching. There's a reason why people watch TV -- because they don't want to read."
Comedian Lewis Black, on HBO's ''Inside The NFL"
It's said that the truest words are often spoken in jest, but in this case, Lewis Black's humor is aimed at the non-fantasy football players. The truth is the NFL and its television partners are falling all over themselves catering to the fantasy cognoscenti.
And with good reason.
Research reveals fantasy players spend more time watching the NFL on TV (2-3 hours more each Sunday), are regular visitors to the websites that host their leagues, and tend to stay on the site longer than an average visitor. Figures from Nielsen/NetRatings show the average fantasy player's visit to CBSsportsline.com is 2 hours 8 minutes. That sort of usage catches the attention of advertisers and makes both the league's TV rights and those networks' affiliated websites more valuable.
The Fantasy Sports Trade Association's 2005 numbers show more than 6 percent of adults (more than 13 million) play fantasy sports games, including more than 10 million in fantasy football. Moreover, the average player participates in more than two leagues and spends $154 per season in what is now referred to as a $1 billion per year industry.
''Fantasy has gone mainstream," said Clay Walker, senior vice president of Players Inc., the licensing arm of the NFL Players Association. ''Advertising has embraced it. There's more than a chance that a major advertiser is considering spending its entire August and September advertising campaign around fantasy football."
ESPN stopped charging players this year and, while it won't release numbers, the network says it has doubled its number of fantasy football players. The story is similar at NFL.com, and Yahoo. Free, however, only goes so far. You can pay extra for access to real-time scoring, statistics, and record-keeping.
Sportsline.com, which charges $129 to manage up to a 12-player league, is considered the top game on the market. ''$129 is $10 to $12 per league member," said Greg Ambrosius, editor of Fantasy Sports magazine. ''That's nothing compared to what is exchanged under the table." It also includes the real-time scoring and standings updates that cost extra in the ''free" world of games.
And Sportsline's senior vice president and general manager, Steve Snyder, pointed out, ''The reason ESPN went free this year is because Goodyear is sponsoring the game and underwriting the costs."
Playing can almost become close to an obsession. ''When I was playing, I could tell you everything about all the backup receivers and running backs in the league," said Patriots executive director of media relations Stacey James.
But the fantasy games extend well into the real world.
Players tend to buy the NFL ''Season Ticket" package on DirecTV so they can monitor all the games in progress at the same time.
They also invest in high-definition TVs with picture-in-picture so one screen can be on the NFL Network's ''Red Zone" or DirecTV's ''Red Zone" channel. Both update stats from 1-8 p.m. each Sunday.
Fantasy players are also notorious multitaskers who watch the games with their laptop computers at hand so they can monitor all the games and also converse with opponents and other players.
Fantasy money turns to real income at ''insider" services on websites that offer tips, advanced player ratings, and analysis that helps fantasy players determine which players to play.
The NFL's partner networks -- ABC, CBS, ESPN, and Fox -- all deliver last-minute player information in their Sunday pregame shows, then have instant statistical updates popping up on the screens during games.
'It's not gambling'
Around the NFL, a league that shuns anything even remotely related to gambling and is heavily into image control, this sort of activity is acceptable.
''The gambling association is one reason we waited until 2000 to start our games," said Brian Rolapp, the NFL's vice president for New Media, in charge of NFL.com and its fantasy games.
''It's not gambling. It's a matter of skill as opposed to chance. If you play fantasy football, you've got to follow the rosters, know how your opponent's defense does against your quarterback, and stay up on the injury wire. Doing well is a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors. It's also why we [NFL.com] don't have any games for chance. We think of it as a game of skill."
Rolapp also is a player and, in many ways, symbolic of the phenomenon.
''I've been in a league with the same 12 guys since 1994, when I was an undergraduate at Brigham Young University," he said. ''Back then my roommate used to get USA Today on Monday morning, skip class, and update the league's scoring."
That part of the equation has changed.
Now the scoring updates are instantaneous. All day Sunday, the NFL Network services the fan, giving them what they want (latest scores and stats) when they want it.
''The number of players on NFL.com have increased every year by a significant amount, and at least 20 percent of them are women," said Rolapp.
The league and cable systems rolled out Video On Demand (VOD) previews of players before the season and, like ESPN, produced a Fantasy Football Preview magazine. Next year, a deal with Sprint will allow players to get updated stats on their cellphones.
''The guys in my league [from BYU] now are spread all over the country," said Rolapp. ''Some years, we're even international. Our league -- and the NFL in general -- has a way of uniting people who normally wouldn't spend a lot of time together. In our case, we've had a couple of reunions set up around our draft, and the league keeps us all in touch, including online chatting during games."
Rolapp's league is primarily for fun. ''For bragging rights," he said. Others charge franchise fees, with payouts to the champion and playoff teams.
But high-stakes games are a concern. ''We're careful who gets licensed," said Walker of Players Inc. ''We feel the games are on the right side of skill vs. chance, but there's always a concern that Congress will take another look at fantasy games, especially if some big-time game hosts don't pay off their winners."
Cutting-edge technology
Adelphia cable system's digital customers in the Buffalo area are the test market for the next step in VOD: Fantasy Football On Demand. It's a collaboration among Woburn-based Gotuit Media, the NFL Network, and Adelphia.
Gotuit president Mark Pascarella and Adelphia's Northeast Region director of product marketing, David Daniels, recently demonstrated the system.
The VOD product combines the NFL Network's highlights packages, viewers' individual fantasy teams, and Gotuit's interactive technology.
It's geared to the fantasy player: Click through the menu of players by position -- quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and defensive units -- to build a team. Click on a player and, presto, you see highlights of every one of his plays that scored a fantasy point, using the NFL.com scoring system.
Pascarella sits back and smiles as a visitor clicks through the menu, seeing highlights -- which load instantly -- stopping, pausing, and replaying at will, as if it were a show saved on a DVR or TiVo unit. The difference: The system builds the program to your specifications. Instantly.
Gotuit's technology uses the NFL highlights and overlays its technology to provide graphics, scoring updates, and personal menus.
Even if you're not a fantasy player but interested in a former Patriot player, two or three clicks finds the appropriate highlight package from their most recent game . . . or all of their games this year.
''If you're playing -- no matter what the amount [you pay] -- you tend to stay involved with your team," said Sportsline's Alex Riethmiller. ''I think people playing in the free leagues get frustrated if some members don't stay up to date and enter their weekend lineup on time."
One league that's playing for money is Sportsline's ''Gridiron Guru League." It's a 14-player celebrity league with the likes of CBS announcers Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Bonnie Bernstein, Dan Marino, Gus Johnson, Randy Cross, Brent Jones, Steve Tasker, Steve Cohen (Sirius), Tommy Tighe, and Clark Judge. Each is playing for a charity.
ESPN is considering reinstituting its own celebrity game next year.
This season, the emphasis has been on a big preseason fantasy football special on ESPN, plus a special fantasy edition of ESPN the Magazine, and special content for its ESPN360 broadband site and for ESPN Radio. Locally, ESPN Boston radio (890-AM) has had a Wednesday night fantasy show with Mike Antonellis and Bob Halloran.
Fantasy football is far from the real thing; the only hits these players take are to their egos.
And it certainly doesn't reflect the team-first attitude of the league's reigning champion Patriots. The fantasy game is all about individual stats.
But the numbers fantasy games generate show it's a serious business.
http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...agination/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Sports+News
''Fantasy football is out of control. I don't care that LaDainian Tomlinson has two receptions for 8 yards in the first quarter of another game that I am not even watching. There's a reason why people watch TV -- because they don't want to read."
Comedian Lewis Black, on HBO's ''Inside The NFL"
It's said that the truest words are often spoken in jest, but in this case, Lewis Black's humor is aimed at the non-fantasy football players. The truth is the NFL and its television partners are falling all over themselves catering to the fantasy cognoscenti.
And with good reason.
Research reveals fantasy players spend more time watching the NFL on TV (2-3 hours more each Sunday), are regular visitors to the websites that host their leagues, and tend to stay on the site longer than an average visitor. Figures from Nielsen/NetRatings show the average fantasy player's visit to CBSsportsline.com is 2 hours 8 minutes. That sort of usage catches the attention of advertisers and makes both the league's TV rights and those networks' affiliated websites more valuable.
The Fantasy Sports Trade Association's 2005 numbers show more than 6 percent of adults (more than 13 million) play fantasy sports games, including more than 10 million in fantasy football. Moreover, the average player participates in more than two leagues and spends $154 per season in what is now referred to as a $1 billion per year industry.
''Fantasy has gone mainstream," said Clay Walker, senior vice president of Players Inc., the licensing arm of the NFL Players Association. ''Advertising has embraced it. There's more than a chance that a major advertiser is considering spending its entire August and September advertising campaign around fantasy football."
ESPN stopped charging players this year and, while it won't release numbers, the network says it has doubled its number of fantasy football players. The story is similar at NFL.com, and Yahoo. Free, however, only goes so far. You can pay extra for access to real-time scoring, statistics, and record-keeping.
Sportsline.com, which charges $129 to manage up to a 12-player league, is considered the top game on the market. ''$129 is $10 to $12 per league member," said Greg Ambrosius, editor of Fantasy Sports magazine. ''That's nothing compared to what is exchanged under the table." It also includes the real-time scoring and standings updates that cost extra in the ''free" world of games.
And Sportsline's senior vice president and general manager, Steve Snyder, pointed out, ''The reason ESPN went free this year is because Goodyear is sponsoring the game and underwriting the costs."
Playing can almost become close to an obsession. ''When I was playing, I could tell you everything about all the backup receivers and running backs in the league," said Patriots executive director of media relations Stacey James.
But the fantasy games extend well into the real world.
Players tend to buy the NFL ''Season Ticket" package on DirecTV so they can monitor all the games in progress at the same time.
They also invest in high-definition TVs with picture-in-picture so one screen can be on the NFL Network's ''Red Zone" or DirecTV's ''Red Zone" channel. Both update stats from 1-8 p.m. each Sunday.
Fantasy players are also notorious multitaskers who watch the games with their laptop computers at hand so they can monitor all the games and also converse with opponents and other players.
Fantasy money turns to real income at ''insider" services on websites that offer tips, advanced player ratings, and analysis that helps fantasy players determine which players to play.
The NFL's partner networks -- ABC, CBS, ESPN, and Fox -- all deliver last-minute player information in their Sunday pregame shows, then have instant statistical updates popping up on the screens during games.
'It's not gambling'
Around the NFL, a league that shuns anything even remotely related to gambling and is heavily into image control, this sort of activity is acceptable.
''The gambling association is one reason we waited until 2000 to start our games," said Brian Rolapp, the NFL's vice president for New Media, in charge of NFL.com and its fantasy games.
''It's not gambling. It's a matter of skill as opposed to chance. If you play fantasy football, you've got to follow the rosters, know how your opponent's defense does against your quarterback, and stay up on the injury wire. Doing well is a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors. It's also why we [NFL.com] don't have any games for chance. We think of it as a game of skill."
Rolapp also is a player and, in many ways, symbolic of the phenomenon.
''I've been in a league with the same 12 guys since 1994, when I was an undergraduate at Brigham Young University," he said. ''Back then my roommate used to get USA Today on Monday morning, skip class, and update the league's scoring."
That part of the equation has changed.
Now the scoring updates are instantaneous. All day Sunday, the NFL Network services the fan, giving them what they want (latest scores and stats) when they want it.
''The number of players on NFL.com have increased every year by a significant amount, and at least 20 percent of them are women," said Rolapp.
The league and cable systems rolled out Video On Demand (VOD) previews of players before the season and, like ESPN, produced a Fantasy Football Preview magazine. Next year, a deal with Sprint will allow players to get updated stats on their cellphones.
''The guys in my league [from BYU] now are spread all over the country," said Rolapp. ''Some years, we're even international. Our league -- and the NFL in general -- has a way of uniting people who normally wouldn't spend a lot of time together. In our case, we've had a couple of reunions set up around our draft, and the league keeps us all in touch, including online chatting during games."
Rolapp's league is primarily for fun. ''For bragging rights," he said. Others charge franchise fees, with payouts to the champion and playoff teams.
But high-stakes games are a concern. ''We're careful who gets licensed," said Walker of Players Inc. ''We feel the games are on the right side of skill vs. chance, but there's always a concern that Congress will take another look at fantasy games, especially if some big-time game hosts don't pay off their winners."
Cutting-edge technology
Adelphia cable system's digital customers in the Buffalo area are the test market for the next step in VOD: Fantasy Football On Demand. It's a collaboration among Woburn-based Gotuit Media, the NFL Network, and Adelphia.
Gotuit president Mark Pascarella and Adelphia's Northeast Region director of product marketing, David Daniels, recently demonstrated the system.
The VOD product combines the NFL Network's highlights packages, viewers' individual fantasy teams, and Gotuit's interactive technology.
It's geared to the fantasy player: Click through the menu of players by position -- quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and defensive units -- to build a team. Click on a player and, presto, you see highlights of every one of his plays that scored a fantasy point, using the NFL.com scoring system.
Pascarella sits back and smiles as a visitor clicks through the menu, seeing highlights -- which load instantly -- stopping, pausing, and replaying at will, as if it were a show saved on a DVR or TiVo unit. The difference: The system builds the program to your specifications. Instantly.
Gotuit's technology uses the NFL highlights and overlays its technology to provide graphics, scoring updates, and personal menus.
Even if you're not a fantasy player but interested in a former Patriot player, two or three clicks finds the appropriate highlight package from their most recent game . . . or all of their games this year.
''If you're playing -- no matter what the amount [you pay] -- you tend to stay involved with your team," said Sportsline's Alex Riethmiller. ''I think people playing in the free leagues get frustrated if some members don't stay up to date and enter their weekend lineup on time."
One league that's playing for money is Sportsline's ''Gridiron Guru League." It's a 14-player celebrity league with the likes of CBS announcers Jim Nantz, Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, Bonnie Bernstein, Dan Marino, Gus Johnson, Randy Cross, Brent Jones, Steve Tasker, Steve Cohen (Sirius), Tommy Tighe, and Clark Judge. Each is playing for a charity.
ESPN is considering reinstituting its own celebrity game next year.
This season, the emphasis has been on a big preseason fantasy football special on ESPN, plus a special fantasy edition of ESPN the Magazine, and special content for its ESPN360 broadband site and for ESPN Radio. Locally, ESPN Boston radio (890-AM) has had a Wednesday night fantasy show with Mike Antonellis and Bob Halloran.
Fantasy football is far from the real thing; the only hits these players take are to their egos.
And it certainly doesn't reflect the team-first attitude of the league's reigning champion Patriots. The fantasy game is all about individual stats.
But the numbers fantasy games generate show it's a serious business.
http://www.boston.com/sports/footba...agination/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+Sports+News
