Fantasy Sports Is Here To Stay
Not exactly a news flash, but if anyone thinks fantasy sports are an isolated fad, they are crazy. And this is proof:
In todays Pittsburgh-Jacksonville playoff game (and likely, the prior game between the Seahawks and the Redskins), the NFL aired a commercial for it's own Fantasy Football Playoff Contest.
First of all, giving up that ad revenue is a pretty big decision, and the fact that - shudder with me here - they did it to that godawful "So You Had A Bad Day"song -- means it was an expensive decision. But the fact that it's for a fantasy football PLAYOFF game is, to me, the proof in the proverbial pudding.
Look, I know a LOT of people who play fantasy football, and it's quite clearly a huge industry that most folks accept is no longer a fringe interest. But I know fairly few people who, like me, play fantasy football playoffs. It's GREAT, and in some ways like a salary cap league that occurs during the regular season. But it's far less common.
A fantasy football playoff commercial is pretty ridiculous. And I love it. Just lose the song.
As for the first playoff game, I was shocked to see that every ESPN football columnist picked the Redskins to win - though in fairness, I think Bill Simmons picked the Hawks. While Seattle isn't great, they seemed to be - before and during the game - a notably better team. I'm not sure how to say this without it sounding crass and insensitive so let me preclude it by saying that I feel horribly about the loss of Sean Taylor, and I don't doubt for a second that it helped motivate the team to play better over the last few weeks. But that can only take one so far, and going into Seattle is always tough to do. The reality is that the Redskins are a very decent team, but in really no aspect of their game are they extremely good. You can't really go deep in the playoffs that way, even if you are inspired.
But, good on ya, Redskins. As for Seattle, going into Green Bay is going to be just as tough for them as it was for the Skins today. That should be a great game and we'll be watching it up in Tahoe.
Yeah, boy.
I didn't understand all the people picking the Redskins either. The Seahawks are a much different team in Qwest than on the road, plus the Skins really aren't a good team. They were decent and just got hot against average competition (the Cowboys had nothing to play for). I said all this on my blog before the game as I picked the Seahawks, by the way...so this isn't hindsight.
ReplyDelete11-1 last year in the playoffs and 4-0 so far this year! Back Show!
Agreed. I thought that the Skins were getting way too much pub and backed the Hawks the whole way, but somehow let myself fall prey to the notion that Clinton Portis would be a good fantasy playoff running back.
ReplyDeleteStupid Brinson.
Hm...I guess I did that too. I took Clinton as one of my fantasy RB, but our league lets you replace 2 players each week. This last week, I lost Portis and Santonio Holmes, but I had Seahawks and Jags players on my team as well (well, if you include Josh Scobee in the category of 'player')...
ReplyDeleteYou write:
ReplyDelete"giving up that ad revenue is a pretty big decision..."
Are you saying that the NFL airing an ad about a customer retention, potentially customer creation progam during an NFL game is a big decision re: long term revenue?
Hm. I posit that maybe the short term revenue is ok to lose in order to get more people interested in watching all football games - not just their favorite teams - which is what fantasy football does. Fantasy football makes the average joe think it's great to order 160 dollars worth of DirecTv to watch more football. I'd imagine there's cut for the NFL in there. Plus, they're still showing ads in those football games, and I imagine those new viewer numbers are worked into the ad sales - meaning more revenue for the same ads, so to speak.
Anyhoo - don't forget to look macro at your marketing programs, Matt. I have a few books you can read if you're interested. Perhaps business school might interest you.
ZinggAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
All snark aside (yeah, right), Swervie and I are in agreement here. But it's rare that any organization can look to long-term revenue over a short-term pop. The NFL could have sold that air time for, let's say, $50,000 immediately, or hope that it translates to something in excess of $50,000 X the interest rate X duration, etc. (This is called the time value of money, Swerv, and slap-a-dosh if i didn't just drop some b-school on you.)
ReplyDelete