Fantasy sports present an interesting crossover industry that touches both gaming and modern sports management. For baseball specifically, gone is the era when avid fans could only read their local daily columnists and relied on annual magazines previewing the upcoming season. The explosive expansion of fantasy sports has created an entirely new distribution channel for major league branding including MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL, NASCAR et al.
Knowledge as a Tool for Buy-In
Professional sports brands now have more daily consumer touches than ever--an interaction that has dramatically increased consumer knowledge and buy-in. After all, how many individuals understood these terms before fantasy sports:
- WHIP
- +/-
- BABIP
Only a truly hardcore baseball fan, as late as the late 1990's, would understand batting-average-on-balls-in-play (BABIP) or walks-and-hits-per-inning-pitched (WHIP). Additionally, casual fans may struggle to understand offsides in hockey--much less a player's plus/minus rating (+/-). As with many other forms of entertainment, the new era of information availability has increased consumers' thirst for more breadth and depth of information.
The Fantasy Industry Evolves
Countless fantasy sport platform providers stepped into this space to provide detailed information and a platform on which to compete. Early players (ex: sandbox.com) faded and ESPN and Yahoo stepped up as major players in the industry. Until recently, however, no single platform succeeded in providing strength in both available editorial content and platform structure.
I began playing fantasy sports in 2002 with a baseball league on sandbox.com and quickly realized just how much I did not know about any team other than my beloved St. Louis Cardinals. I also learned that although the sandbox platform was very easy to use and play, it was not a good provider of fantasy sports editorial content. Yahoo carries on the spirit of this early platform but still lags behind in providing expert analysis and tips for fantasy gamers.
Conversely, ESPN always excelled in providing top-tier analysis but failed to deliver premium services without a premium price. ESPN used its draw and vast resources to bring in fantasy sports-specific writers that provided valuable analysis and commentary free of charge. Initial efforts to host gamers were solid but could not match the ease-of-use delivered by Yahoo.
Filling the Void
After seven years of hosting leagues on Yahoo and scouring the internets (it's a series of tubes) for better information I was more than frustrated. Or I was, until March 2009. ESPN launched an aggressive marketing campaign in early 2009 to promote its new free fantasy baseball premium offering. Offering free live scoring, active message boards, an extensive content library and daily video podcasts, ESPN took their service to a new level at a new price.
The first commercial might not have caught my attention but their persistent advertising motivated a second look and their presentation motivated a full-on switch. Willingness-to-pay (or at least willingness-to-play) in the fantasy gaming space is primarily motivated by price, features, and editorial content. ESPN's campaign effectively communicated each of these components and achieved its end goal in motivating a switch.
Niche Opportunities
ESPN, Yahoo, and other smaller players will continue to compete for market share and page views but a space remains for niche players. Companies can continue to fill the information gap by providing consolidated content services and innovative original writing. As big players continue to become more complex other firms will succeed in becoming more simple. One of my favorite support sites is http://www.goaliepost.com/. This site serves exactly one function: post for the benefit of fantasy hockey owners exactly who each team will play in goal on any given day. Extremely simple, effective, and valuable.
Bold prediction:
Cameron Maybin (Florida Marlins Outfielder) hits 20/20 (aka 20 Home Runs and 20 Stolen Bases).
