I write this at the risk of exposing myself as a gigantic nerd. Years spent carefully cultivating a self image that is equal parts brilliant cynic, drunken rogue, and passionate renaissance man are about to be flushed down the toilet. Playing fantasy football alone is not grounds for being forced to wear the Scarlet D, but the reality that I spend time thinking about the marketing and societal ramifications of fantasy football will surely out me as a capital d Dork.
While watching an NFL pre-game show several weeks ago I heard one of the studio announcers say something to the effect that people who took part in fantasy football leagues were losers. I’ve heard similar thoughts expressed on numerous occasions by ex-football players and coaches as they babble their way from cliché to cliché while they try to announce a game. Criticisms range from labeling fantasy football a distraction that takes away from the game to the oft repeated charge that it re-aligns team loyalty.
The first problem with announcers and color commentators belittling those who play fantasy football is that they are insulting their consumers. Maybe the customer isn’t always right, but I still don’t see how abusing someone for how they choose to utilize your product makes financial sense. If my ritual of folding a jumbo slice in half to create a pizza sandwich was suddenly greeted with screams of derision and open mockery, I would most certainly get my jumbo slice down the street the next time I felt the need to consume two thousand calories of dough and cheese-like substance in ninety seconds. Similarly, your average fantasy football geek is going to watch the NFL broadcast that devotes the least amount of airtime to calling him a sexless pipsqueak. It’s simple avoidance, really.
The second issue is this; why should I feel any loyalty to a professional football team? I know all about the heard mentality of man, and the desire to belong to something larger than yourself, yada, yada, yada. But why should I care about the geographical differences between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets? If I were a pure purist of the football faith, I would respect the Patriots more for their ability to win three out of four Super Bowls in the salary cap era than because I may have been born just outside of Boston (i.e. New Hampshire). And if I were a pure purist, which I am not, I would not be cursed to root for the Minnesota Vikings merely because I was born in the suburbs of Minneapolis and had the profound misfortune to have been raised on a steady diet of Bud Grant, Tommy Kramer, and Leo Lewis.
The gigantic corporations that are NFL franchises care nothing for me beyond my ability to pay for their product, nor should they. They have no loyalty to their fan base. As season tickets become more expensive than a used car, there is a noticeable lack of discussion among NFL ownership about what the skyrocketing cost of attending games does to the ability of blue collar, die hard fans in cities like Pittsburg or Cleveland to show up on Sunday to throw batteries at opposing players. Stadium seats are slowly being filled with more affluent ‘fans’, and the people who used to show up four hours early to drink beer and cook brats are having the same parties at home instead of at Heinz Field. There is nothing morally wrong with this effect and it probably reduces the amount spent on game day security and sanitation as an added benefit.
I believe in the basic principles of economics and if the forces of supply and demand dictate that a nosebleed ticket for an exciting match up between the Tennessee Titans and the Oakland Raiders is $120 plus parking and concessions, far be it from me to suggest the possibility of a federal subsidy on stadium pretzels and watered down beer; but owners shouldn’t be surprised when the fan base starts showing more loyalty to players on their fantasy roster instead of the players on the crappy home town team. Likewise, the networks shouldn’t be confused when fantasy football geeks stop watching the actual games and instead sit in front of their computer every Sunday waiting for statistics to update. Imagine it; large groups of semi-drunken men huddled around pizza crusted laptops while they anxiously await the latest download of fresh data. This is the second greatest fear of the NFL; the first greatest being that everybody goes outside and plays a pickup game of touch football. But let’s be serious here, that’s never gonna happen.
Labels: I am a dork, sports reporting
3 Comments:
I've got news - people in the media are incredible losers, by and large. Believe me, I've been around them plenty.
They are hyenas with bad clothes, little to no regard for personal appearance (TV Media have the benefit of a hair/make-up person), and spend their working lives grovelling at the feet of those more successful than them.
Right on Chief. The NFL and industry leeches such are sports journalists and personalities should strongly consider the boost their industry gets from the fantasy leagues.
Before I played, I would be lucky to sit through a whole Vikings game if it wasn't a great one. Now I will watch a Titans/Browns game if there are relevant players in it. Talk about a huge boost in viewership. That is cash fantasy players are shoveling into football coffers!
On the otherhand, I would argue that in the long run, your concerns about rising costs are more important. The middle and upper middle class can be very fickle about what they spend on for luxuries. Ask the Expos, or pro hockey. And yup, fantasy leagues keep the consumers interested in players, not teams. So thus, I hate the Patriots now, cause Belechik is too clever with the injury report and his game plans. Other teams are catching on, and now regularly misreport injuries to throw off the other team's game plans.. even if it's minor benefit. But it sure screws the FF leaguers.
I've got these concerns now about my interest in FF. I think it is in a down cycle, where there are only a couple of players to rely on. The rest are out-coached. The team finds it is in the best interest of winning to give a goal line carry or throw the the guy least likely. This is great strategy, as the defenders really have to defend everyone, but bad for FF, as the most talented players don't get stats. Think Tiki Barber. Too frustrating. I may go back to my pre-ff days, stop playing, and only watch a little Vikes.
Nato
Phil - That doesn't suprise me. It also explains Joe Theisman.
Nato - Are you kidding me? The Vikings are 2 million times more frustrating. I'd much rather bitch about Michael Turner stealing carries from LT than Brad Johnson not being able to throw a pass.
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