Fantasy sports profile: male, young and smart--NY Times

"And while Rotisserie baseball is recognized as the granddaddy of all fantasy sports, football has emerged as the most popular fantasy sport among the 15 million Americans who spend hours massaging statistical data and picking teams. There are now 17 million unique users of fantasy football sites,

• compared with 3 million fantasy baseball players"....

(From interview of Fantasy Sports Ventures' founder Christopher J. Russo)

• "Q. Who plays fantasy sports and why do you believe those players are so appealing to advertisers?

A. "The fantasy (sports) audience is highly engaged, it is composed mostly of men 18 to 49 who spend five to six hours a week managing their teams. They rank high in terms of education, income and their propensity to buy products. They are among some of the most engaged people on the Web. There are 18 million people playing fantasy sports in the United States.

• Fantasy sports combines games, sports and community — three of the most powerful drivers on the Web, rolled into one. The users can be the general manager and select the players on their team, and what they’re looking for is information that no one else might have, or is not available on other sites. It empowers the fan and drives so much usage. That is what advertisers find appealing — these are not casual users."...

Q. Why has football overtaken baseball, at least in terms of the number of fantasy players?

A. "Baseball was the first fantasy sport and, next to football, has the most audience. But with baseball, you need to be on top of your teams and stats every day. It takes a higher level of commitment. Football is more weekly. Of course, there is a commitment in time, but with football it is more of a ritual leading up to games on Sunday. During the week, fans are looking for news on injuries and on Sunday, fans will spend time looking for last-minute news. Monday and Tuesday are post-mortem days. Really, fantasy games are a natural for football because of its natural rhythm during the week.""

• From NY Times article by Jack Bell, "Making it to the Major League in Fantasy Sports," 4/5/08

(P.S. Football in general accounts for a lot of gambling money. Not so much in baseball. This could be part of the difference). sm

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