the sports business exchange - fall 2011 issue

Fall 2011 www.TheSportsBusinessExchange.com 1

The Sports Business Exchange© A Journal for Young Sports

Business Professionals Fall 2011 – Volume 3

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Perspective From 35,000 Feet Above:

Why Steve Jobs was Important to Young Entrepreneurs Joshua Duboff, Founder

Introducing: “KAEO Startups”

KAEO Startups: Crowd Seats

KAEO Startups: Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund

Making a Marketing Paradigm Shift Within

Your Athletic Department Adam Schemm

Cheerleading May Not Be Ready For Sport Status

But It Is Big Business Daniel Scott Benjamin

The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation

With NFL Television Ratings John A. Fortunato, Fordham University

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Table of Contents

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I am writing this editorial from 35,000 feet in the air on my way home from a trip to Colorado and it has very little to do with sports business. I’m sitting by the window, seat 27A, just behind the wing in coach. The shade is down because it’s still pretty early in the morning and my 6 foot, 3 inch body isn’t very excited to be squeezed into an 18 inch seat. The man in front of me has reclined his seat, which means I can forget about using the tray table to rest my laptop; my knees are too high to let the tray table recline. I’m looking at my screen at about a 75 degree angle and the screen is a little darker than it should be because of the angle. There’s no wifi on this flight. The woman next to me and I are silently battle for the arm rest. She’s half asleep with her iPod playing in her ears. The man sitting on the aisle is watching a movie on his iPad that I know I’ve seen before, but I just can’t place my finger on the movie’s name. We were de-layed about an hour coming out of Denver and my hopes of catching the 4th quarter of the early NFL games when I land might be shattered. Nonetheless, there’s two hours remaining on this flight and I promised myself that the newest issue of The Sports Business Exchange would be published within a few days. I might as well get started. After turning on my computer, the first thing I did to get started was open iTunes . I then did a Matrix-like maneuver to get my iPod out of my carry-on bag and checked to see if it needed to be charged during my flight. We often look to celebrities for guidance. We mimic what they do, what they eat, what they wear, and how they act. Celebrities come in all forms, but most of the time they are Hollywood’s elite, politicians, or sports figures. These celebrities are not always the best role models but frequently have the biggest influence on our lives. A few weeks ago, Steve Jobs lost his battle with cancer. Upon his death, millions of people across the country grieved his loss. By posting their thoughts, videos, and graphics of Jobs online, Americans were grieving over the man who revolutionized

Joshua Duboff is the Founder of The Sports Business Exchange. Duboff works in sports media and has pre-viously spent time in sponsorship activation and campus marketing. He can be reached at @joshuaduboff.

Perspective From 35,000 Feet Above:

Why Steve Jobs was Important to Young Entrepreneurs Joshua Duboff

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=40108597&id=9101520


the way we consume media. Steve Jobs was immortalized in the same manner as celebrities who have passed away prematurely over the last few years. The big difference with Jobs is that he was not a celebrity, he was a businessman. Jobs earned his way to the top of the corporate food chain. From his early days with his adopted parents to his final days, Job was an innovator who always looked to push the limits of technology. As Apple grew, he became a celebrity, but it wasn’t because of his nude video or his ability to shoot a basketball. All three of us sitting in row 27 are using products designed by Jobs. His influence was felt everywhere. We should be teaching the next generation to try to emulate Steve Jobs. We should encourage them to explore the sciences, technology, and math. Sports are great but not everyone is gifted enough to throw a 60 yard pass with pinpoint precision. There are many bad apples playing professional sports that we look up to as we blindly cover our eyes because they just scored another touch-down for our favorite team. Steve Jobs succeeded with his imagination and ingenuity. There is room for innova-tion and invention in sports business. It is a constantly evolving industry. To that end, we have launched TSBX Startups which will celebrate young entrepreneurs and their businesses. The first two startups selected are featured in this issue. Additional startups will be featured in subsequent issues and online at www.TheSportsBusinessExchange.com. More information on TSBX Startups can be found on page 6. The man in 26A just reclined his seat even further; I didn’t even know that was pos-sible. I can barely see my laptop screen anymore not to mention my fingers are completely over the keyboard and it’s almost impossible to reach the space bar which is back by my wrists. I think it’s time to shut down my laptop. At least I still have my iPod. Happy Reading, Joshua Duboff Founder The Sports Business Exchange


Introducing: “KAEO Startups”

KAEO is a common abbreviation in recruiting. It stands for “Keep An Eye On” and is usually used to identify high school athletes who might have big potential at the next level and who might be joining your favorite college team soon.

Entrepreneurs at any level and in any industry face an uphill battle in making their new venture a success. Eight out of ten entrepreneurs fail within the first five years. Due to the level of enjoyment associated with sports, many entrepre-neurs attempt to launch successful enterprises in the sports industry. They seek a medium with high consumer loyalty and an atmosphere that makes it enjoyable to come to work (and perhaps a better paycheck than working for a larger sports company).

As a platform dedicated to young sports business professionals, The Sports Busi-ness Exchange has launched “KAEO Startups,” a new series that will take a look at young entrepreneurs and the businesses they are creating. We will be looking both at the company and the young entrepreneur behind the concept. KAEO Startups can be companies in any field including technology, non-profit, recruit-ing, and consumer products. Of course, they will all be operating within the sports industry.

If you’d like to nominate a company or yourself for the KAEO Startups series, please contact us at [email protected].


KAEO Startups: Crowd Seats

Justin Cener is hoping to bring the success of group buying sites to sports tickets. Justin Cener is the founder of Crowd Seats, a daily deals website for tickets to sporting events. Customers benefit because of the deep discounts offered through the Crowd Seats website. The discounts range anywhere from 50-90% off face value. Teams benefit because they are able to fill perishable in-ventory. Additionally, teams have the added ability to convert users to repeat ticket-buyers as well as gain the added revenue from in-stadium sales such as parking and concessions that would otherwise go unconsumed with empty seats. Crowd Seats is still a very new company but has already received notoriety from tech and sports websites includ-ing TechCrunch and The Sports Business Daily. The web-site officially went live in July 2011 and to date has had four daily deals including discounts with the Los Angeles Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. All four deals were con-sidered a success. Users have collectively purchased fifty-five coupons and saved over $1,600 to date. Crowd Seats is based out of Los Angeles, CA and is currently only offering deals in Los Angeles. However, they are planning to launch deal pages for San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Boston in the coming months. Justin came up with the idea for Crowd Seats after seeing a deal on Groupon for a Los Angeles Clippers game. He saw an opportunity to create a daily deals site dedicated to distressed inventory. Justin is a 2009 Sport Management and Infor-mation Technology graduate of Rutgers University and grew up in New Jersey. Prior to launching Crowd Seats, Justin worked in web design and social media. For more information on Crowd Seats, visit www.CrowdSeats.com.

Crowd Seats

Founded: 2011 Founder: Justin Cener Concept: Daily deals website for tickets to sporting events. Contact Info: www.CrowdSeats.com @CrowdSeats Email: [email protected]


KAEO Startups: Massachusetts

Soldiers Legacy Fund

The Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund (MSLF) was founded in 2004 with a sim-ple goal: to provide educational assistance grants to the children of Massachu-setts Servicemembers who were killed while deployed on Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. “Dive into any project you feel extremely passionate about,” says Peter Trovato, Foun-der of the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund. Peter suggests that you need to trust your gut instinct and if this desire keeps you up, night after night, you need to take a chance and passionately commit to your calling. That’s exactly what happened to Peter back in 2004 when he was the captain of the Uni-versity of Massachusetts Men’s Hockey Team. What started as an honors capstone project for UMass’ Commonwealth College Honors Program evolved into the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund. The MSLF’s primary focus is to pay for post-secondary education for eligible kids in Massachusetts who had a parent who was killed in Operations Enduring or Iraqi Freedom. Over 110 Servicemembers from Massachusetts have been killed in these Operations. A total of 75 children are eligible to receive funding through the MSLF program. The program has been widely recognized throughout Massachusetts. The Massa-chusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund has been featured on CNN, NESN, NBC’s Nightly News, NPR, Boston Globe, Boston Herald and many more media outlets. Peter, now a full-time Harvard MBA student, says he came up with the idea for the fund in part thanks to the UMass Hockey coaches who made an effort to have the team involved in the community. Peter was a Big Brother in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund

Founded: 2004 Founder: Peter Trovato Concept: Non-profit to support the education of children who lost a parent in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Contact Info: www.MSLFund.org Email: [email protected]


In two recent events over the summer, Peter was successfully able to raise $220,000. The first event was at a benefit honoring ex-Massachusetts Veterans Services Secretary Thomas G. Kelly and the second event was in conjunction with a Bruins’ Stanley Cup Trophy viewing party. Peter hopes to continue with these events in the future. Peter has raised $3.1 million for the MSLF since 2004. “We want their kids to have the ability to go to school for free,” says Peter. Cur-rently, five children of fallen servicemembers are attending college because of the MSLF program. For more information, or to donate to the MSLF, visit www.mslfund.org.

TSBX is always interested in new articles from young sports business professionals. Articles can be on any topic related to sports business. For more information, visit www.TheSportsBusinessExchange.com or contact us at @TSBX or [email protected].

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At the University of Rhode Island, we are in the final stages of making a paradigm shift in the way we market and sell our athletic programs. Many collegiate ath-letic departments are either making a similar shift themselves at the moment or are thinking heavily about doing it. This article gives a brief overview about the challenges, strategies, and process that we are go-ing through in making our paradigm shift. The Challenge Change. That can be a scary word for many people. Heck, I’ll even admit that in certain situations I don’t like change either. We all can become creatures of habit from time to time. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you look at, we work in the sports marketing industry where change needs to happen, where we need to keep reinventing or tweaking what we do. Part of the challenge we face as we make this transi-tion at our respective institutions is dealing with poli-cies and traditions that are already in place. A lot of these policies and traditions do not necessarily make sense to us anymore but they’ve been in place for so long that it makes us really need to think about how we deal with them. Making a paradigm shift when it comes to your marketing strategy can be chal-lenging, whether you’re the new guy in town or just have new ideas. The Education As we looked to make our paradigm shift one of the key components that we needed to include is education. Our ability to educate the Athletic Director, Asso-ciate Directors, Coaches, and even our fans was critical as we move forward through the process. As we went through our shift in strategy we looked to start

Making a Marketing Paradigm Shift

Within Your Athletic Department Adam Schemm

Adam Schemm is currently the

Director of Marketing & Sales

within the University of Rhode

Island Athletic Department. At

URI, Schemm is charged with

leading the department’s adver-

tising, game entertainment,

promotions, and ticket sales; he

also assists with the athletic

department’s corporate sales

and social media efforts. He is a

graduate of the University of

Wisconsin-Parkside and can be

reached at @adamschemm or

[email protected].


the education process almost six months before we wanted to start implement-ing our plan. One simple thing that we did is that we asked our athletic director and a few of our co-workers to read an article about the strategies that we were looking to include in our shift. While the process of educating everyone can get overlooked it often the easiest to do. Again, it’s a simple step and it can be very effective. The Shift As you continue to try to implement your paradigm shift make sure that you con-tinue to educate everyone as you look to develop and present your plan. The first step that we took as a marketing & sales department in making our shift was to do our homework. We researched industry best practices, reviewed numerous industry publications, and called our counterparts at other institutions. After you do your research, the next step is to lay out your shift and how you’re going to implement everything. As a marketing department we spend weeks developing the details of our shift. We started to layout the groundwork in January and it took us until April to finish. After you have done all of your homework, educated your base, and developed your plan, it’s now time to unveil your paradigm shift. We took the liberty to roll our shift out in grandiose style with a very professional presentation. For your presentation, it’s very key to make sure that you have the correct people in on it, so that everyone feels included and can make informed decisions. At URI, we in-cluded our AD and Deputy AD, individuals from our finance and media relations departments, our development and ticket office staff, and the third party man-agement company that runs our arena. We wanted to make sure that we had all the parties present when we unveiled our plan. Our presentation went off with-out a hitch thanks to our homework, preparation, and our ability to educate our co-workers. The Defense The naysayers, the devil’s advocates, and those who just do not like change will the biggest obstacle that you will have to maneuver through as you try to make your paradigm shift, which does not involve dollar signs. Do not fret too much about them though, they can only help you succeed and refine your shift. The key in mounting your defense against questions that may arise through the


process of your shift is to make sure that you have done your homework and thought through most of the scenarios that could arise. Solid preparation will help to limit the naysayers. Most importantly, when dealing with naysayers and devils advocates, as in any situation, do not get frustrated and angry with them, make sure to keep it profes-sional and be calm. The Implementation Great! Now you’ve just presented your plan for the paradigm shift in your mar-keting department, it’s time to get to work and implement it. The first step that we took in implementing our shift was to break it down into sections. We were able to break it down, so that we were able to concentrate on implementing one or two sections at a time. One of the first things we implemented was a new pro-active ticket sales program for our basketball and football programs. After the ba-sis was set and implemented we moved onto implement our new initiatives re-lated to student marketing & entertainment and so on. A critical component as we continue to embark on our implementation here at URI, has been being able to develop a timeline for when we need each section implemented. This structure keeps us motivated, on schedule, and organized. The implementation of your paradigm shift can be a daunting task, but it’s defi-nitely fun and gratifying to see your department’s shift take shape. The Results Whew! You’ve gotten this far in the paradigm shift process, you probably think you can sit back and everything will unfold as planned. Not the case. While your plan will certainly produce results if you implement it correctly, you’re know doubt going to run into bumps in the road. It’s critical that you stick with your plan, make adjustments where necessary, and solve your any problems that may arise through rational means. At URI, we keep working everyday to see the results of paradigm shift come to fruition, but the work is never done.


One of the most interesting and highly debated topics in the world of athletics seemingly ended in the summer of 2010 after a court ruling by United States Dis-trict Judge Stefan Underhill stating that cheerleading is not a sport under its current level of development and organization (Khadaroo, 2010). In late July, it looked as though Underhill’s decision, that stated that Quinnipiac University’s cheerleading team did not meet Title IX gender-equity requirements, would put a damper on the groundwork that had been laid during recent years to legitimize the athletes involved in cheerleading. The industry of cheerleading, despite the ruling, has not missed a beat and may be stronger than it has ever been. The expansion from pom-poms and pep rallies has been flying under the radar in the business world for quite some time, but it can no longer be denied its place among big business. With roughly 3.7 million participants throughout the nation and over half a billion dollar industry (Figueroa, 2010), cheerleading has become one of the most profitable and robust ‘activities’ in the United States. Cheerleading can be traced back to the early 1900’s. It actually began as a male dominated activity and participants were originally deemed ‘yell-leaders.’ This term actually still exists today at universities such as Texas A&M University in Col-lege Station, Texas. The original purpose of these yell-leaders was to involve and entertain the crowd in cheers and chants that were in support of the schools ath-letic teams. This sometimes involved tosses and gymnastics, but never anything competitive. Eventually, the activity began to evolve as different groups of cheer-leaders from different universities actually began to compete in their ability to involve the crowd in the game. This eventually spurred what is now known as competitive cheerleading. No one could have predicted that it would become what it is today. Since the beginning of cheerleading as we know it, the debate has been “Is cheerleading a sport?”. Those involved in competitive cheerleading have ada-

Cheerleading May Not Be Ready For Sport Status

But It Is Big Business Daniel Scott Benjamin

Daniel Scott Benjamin is pur-

suing a Masters degree in

Kinesiology from Tarleton

State University and was a

collegiate cheerleader at both

Grand Valley State University

and at Tarleton State Univer-

sity. He recently became part

owner of a cheerleading and

tumbling gym in Graham,

Texas. Benjamin can be

reached at learn2s-

[email protected].


mantly defended it as a sport, while others continue to discount its status. The ruling made by Federal Judge Stefan Underhill made the argument seem simple enough, as he ruled that “Quinnipiac University in Connecticut could not replace its women's volleyball team with a competitive cheering squad, saying cheerlead-ing is ‘too underdeveloped and disorganized’ to be treated as an official colle-giate sport (Khadaroo, 2010, paragraph 4).” That being said, Judge Underhill did not leave out the possibility that cheerleading could be considered a sport in the future. The question is, from a business prospective, does it really matter if cheerleading becomes legitimized as a sport by a judge? As the evidence contin-ues to prove, probably not. Judge Underhill’s decision has not stopped cheerleading from continuing to gain ground as a very profitable business venture. The number of participants and fol-lowers continues to rise each year. Without question, cheerleaders have an un-yielding desire to be respected as the athletes that they believe they are. Despite Judge Underhill’s denial of this status, Varsity Spirit Group Incorporated, the leader in the cheerleading industry, continues to gain ground as a powerhouse business. In his article in USA Today, Erik Brady (2002) asked his readers to con-sider this fact:

In 2001, Varsity Spirit Corp. sold its Riddell Group Division, a leading maker of football helmets. ‘Football is not growing,’ says Jeffrey Webb, president and CEO of Varsity Spirit Corporation. ‘Cheerleading is. We looked at it and decided we were better off alone.’ (Paragraph 3)

The aforementioned Webb may have had as much to do with the growth of the cheerleading industry as anyone. A former yell leader at the University of Okla-homa, Webb decided against law school in 1974 and instead began his own cheerleading company after gaining valuable experience working under Law-rence "Herkie" Herkimer, who is widely considered to be the father of cheerlead-ing and cheer camps as they are known today. After quickly moving the company from Dallas, Texas to Memphis, Tennessee to be closer to clients, Webb called his company the Universal Cheerleading Association. Webb has since seen the name change to Varsity Spirit Group Incorporated. According to Webb, "we made $850 in profit our first year (1975)…. I was running the business out of my apartment. It just evolved since then. I guess I was more opportunistic than visionary (Brady, 2002, paragraph 2).” In 2008, Daniel Connolly reported in The Commercial Appeal that Webb's success, coupled with the growth of the cheerleading industry as a whole, earned him the Master Entrepreneur award from the Society of Entrepre-


neurs and Junior Achievement in 2008. Varsity Spirit Group Incorporated (known simply as Varsity to most), with its 1,000 full time and 2,000 part time employees and $300 million in annual profits (Connelly, 2008) is in control of roughly half of the cheerleading industry. A great number of smaller, private companies comprise the other half of the $600 million industry. These companies compete with one another by offering summer camps, competitions for teams and apparel for participants. The apparel facet of these companies seems to be the largest profit generator, as Varsity links apparel to nearly 60% of the company’s revenue (Figueroa, 2010). Varsity may have the edge by being the leader in uniform sales, but other companies continue to chal-lenge the industry giant. The industry of cheerleading is actually very diverse and multifaceted. The indus-try is rich with new and diverse financial opportunities. At all-star competitions hosted by Varsity or the numerous other smaller companies, the number of pri-vate vendors is astounding. These individuals have found their own niche that lives and breathes with the cheerleading world as a whole. From people selling apparel, hair bows, cheer specific shoes, flowers, dolls, stuffed animals, jewelry, handbags, and all different types of food, the lobby area of an all-star competi-tion more closely resembles a flea market combined with a carnival, rather than an athletic event. All-star gyms are located throughout the nation. On any given weekend during competition season, there could be as many as forty competitions going on around the United States. Thousands of privately owned tumbling/cheerleading/gymnastics gyms are scattered throughout the United States. With the decline in the popularity of competitive gymnastics in the United States, competitive all-star cheerleading programs have continued to gain popularity throughout the country. These programs are normally completely separate from school activities and require a large amount of money per participant. An average competition fee is about $100 per participant and teams will normally compete at five to eight competitions per year. Many teams also choose to participate in “World Championship” competitions (normally hosted by Varsity) which are held in ei-ther California or Florida, depending on the level of the team. The “Worlds” events include trips to Disney parks and hotels for overnight stays. All these competitions can end up being quite expensive; yet attendance contin-


ues to increase. One private gym located in North Texas reported an annual in-crease of about 10 to 25% in their All-Star programs. This particular gym now fields 14 teams, each with roughly 30 members. Monthly tuition for this gym is set at $80, which simply includes one tumbling class a week. Additional classes cost extra. If the athlete is interested in the All-Star program, the fee does not in-clude uniforms, competition fees, or choreography fees. Private lessons are an-other story, and are offered at an average of $80 an hour. Private lessons are not mandatory at this gym, but they are encouraged and often sought after by many athletes. One of the all-star directors who wished to remain anonymous stated, “this is a highly, highly competitive world and kids don’t want to be falling be-hind. The prices at our gym are slightly higher than average for this area, but the kids come here to get the best coaching and to win competitions.” At this particu-lar gym, it is not unheard of for athletes to travel from up to three hours away for practices, passing any number of gyms along the way to get there. Full time coaches at this gym are paid between $30,000 to $60,000 annually, plus what-ever they make in privates. This particular gym has annual profits that reach well into the six-figure range. The emergence of All-Star programs has fed right into the increasing interest of many universities to recognize cheerleading for what it is: a very competitive ac-tivity that takes years of dedication, hard work and skill development. Many uni-versities have begun to realize the positive impact that cheerleading can poten-tially have on the university as a whole, including the diverse group of students it can bring to a campus. Around the nation, schools of all sizes have worked to get more and more funding and support for its cheerleading programs. A great num-ber of universities, including 18-time national champion University of Kentucky, now give partial or full scholarships for cheerleading and the number of universi-ties giving scholarships grows each year. With the growth of potential scholar-ships, the world of competitive cheerleading at the private gym level has unlim-ited potential. Cheerleading is not only a great way that parents can help their kids stay in shape, but the business and life skills that can be attained through cheerleading are undeniable. The ability to maintain a calm demeanor under pressure, the ability to perform comfortably in front of a crowd, as well as being able to work cooperatively, understand personality, meet challenges and set personal goals are all things that are desired in the business world. These assets can all be at-


tained through cheerleading. “Corporate America often seeks ex-cheerleaders, especially for sales jobs, where success goes to attractive, energetic and person-able people who know how to work a crowd (Brady, 2002, paragraph 10).” This may be the most important impact that cheerleading has had, and will continue to have, on the business community. The question is, “where does cheerleading go from here?” It seems as though there is an unlimited business potential for the industry, but what if it becomes a sport under Title IX? Then what? Does that help or hinder the business side of cheerleading? Jeff Webb has his own opinion. “The U.S. cheerleading market is saturated and the best opportunities for growth are overseas in markets like China and Germany (Connelly, 2008).” Varsity has begun efforts to branch cheer-leading into the overseas market and success has been marginal. Will cheerlead-ing become a worldwide phenomenon? That remains to be seen, but for now, it will just continue to claim its place among big business ventures for young and energetic entrepreneurs. The future of the cheerleading industry on the business end seems to be unlimited. REFERENCES Brady, E. (2002, April 26). Cheerleading in the USA: A sport and an industry. USA Today, Retrieved on March 2,

2011 from http://www.usatoday.com/sports/_stories/2002-04-26-cheerleading-cover.htm Brady, E. (2002, April 26). From megaphones to mega-profits. USA Today, Retrieved on March 31, 2011 from

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/_stories/2002-04-26-cover-side-business.htm Connolly, D. (2008). 'Master entrepreneur' takes cheerleading to new heights with varsity brands. The Commer-

cial Appeal, Memphis, Retrieved on February 24, 2011 from http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/feb/24/society-of-entrepreneurs-jeff-webb-yell-leader/

Figueroa, A. (2010). Cheerleading may not be a sport, but it is an industry. The Christian Science Monitor, Re trieved on February 24, 2011 from http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2010/0722/ Cheerleading-may-not-be-a-sport-but-it-is-an-industry Khadaroo, S T. (2010). Cheerleading doesn’t count as a real sport, judge rules. The Christian Science Monitor, Re trieved on February 24, 2011 from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0722/Cheerleading -doesn-t-count-as-a-real-sport-judge-rules

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2010/0722/Cheerleading-may-not-be-a-sport-but-it-is-an-industry

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/new-economy/2010/0722/Cheerleading-may-not-be-a-sport-but-it-is-an-industry

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0722/Cheerleading-doesn-t-count-as-a-real-sport-judge-rules

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0722/Cheerleading-doesn-t-count-as-a-real-sport-judge-rules


The Relationship of Fantasy Football Participation With

NFL Television Ratings John A. Fortunato, Fordham University

Research Problem The purpose of this study is to examine whether fantasy football participation can serve as an additional motivating factor for fans to watch National Football League (NFL) games on television. This research uses the prime-time games on NBC and ESPN from the 2009 NFL season and re-veals some evidence that there is a relationship between NFL players starting in a high percentage of fantasy leagues for that particular week and the television rating for that par-ticular game. Games with more NFL players starting in a high percentage of fans’ fantasy football leagues do have a posi-tive relationship with that game’s television rating in certain circumstances. This study attempts to address two concerns of scholars: the continued study of audience motivations for mass media use and the need for a more extensive examina-tion into the influence of fantasy sports. From a practitioner

perspective, this research is useful to networks and leagues in better understand-ing the influence of fantasy sports as well as assisting in creating the game pro-gramming schedule. Issue An estimated 30 million people participate in fantasy football leagues and ac-cording to Nielsen Media Research more than 1.2 billion minutes were spent on fantasy websites in 2008, yet little academic research has been conducted on this topic. The issue of audience motivations for media use has long been discussed in the study of mass communication. In the specific context of motivation of me-dia use for sports content, researchers have identified the unknown outcome of the game and the desire to see favorite teams and players win and see teams and players they do not like lose as motivating factors that most influence the behav-ior of watching sports. Researchers, however, were only evaluating fans’ motiva-tions to watch these games based on their results factoring into the actual, real-life sports league standings. The question that this study examines is: couldn’t

As part of an exciting part-nership between The Sports Business Exchange and the Journal of Sport Administration & Supervi-sion, TSBX will feature selected articles from the Journal’s publication. For more information on the Journal of Sport Admini-stration & Supervision, visit jsasonline.org.


these same motivations for watching teams and players win or lose extend to the unknown outcome of fans’ games in their fantasy football leagues? Could the unknown outcome of fans’ fantasy team’s games influence the behavior of view-ing NFL games on television? Fans now might be motivated to watch NFL games to root for the players on their fantasy team, or root against an NFL player on a fantasy team that they are com-peting against that week or root against an NFL player who is on a fantasy team that is in the same division in their fantasy league. It is still the unknown out-come of the game, the concern for seeing how players perform, and the fans’ de-sire to win that serve as the motivating factors in the media use behavior of the audience. With the popularity of fantasy football, it is valuable to provide some measure of this relatively new, but increasingly important phenomenon with a traditional measure of sports popularity and a major component of the sports business model, television ratings. To address the influence of fantasy football participation on television ratings, correlations were conducted between the number of NFL players starting in fan-tasy football leagues for that particular week and the television rating for that particular game. The NFL games broadcast on NBC’s Sunday Night Football and ESPN’s Monday Night Football during the 2009 regular season are chosen be-cause they are played at a time when there is no competition from other NFL games and these games are televised to the entire country. For each game on NBC and ESPN the percentage of fantasy leagues that the fantasy players were starting in that week on CBS Sporstline was gathered. The number of NFL play-ers starting in greater than 50 percent and 90 percent of the fantasy leagues on CBS Sportsline for that particular week were then correlated with the game’s television rating. Because so many factors influence a television rating, the vari-ables of teams’ combined winning percentage and margin of victory in the game are also analyzed in comparison to the television rating for the NFL games on NBC and ESPN. Summary For the NBC sample there was a relationship between games with NFL players starting in greater than 90 percent of fantasy leagues and the television rating for that particular week’s game. There was, however, not a relationship between the games with NFL players starting in greater than 50 percent of fantasy leagues


with the television rating for NBC games. For the ESPN sample there was a rela-tionship between both games with NFL players starting in greater than 50 per-cent and 90 percent of fantasy leagues with the television rating for that particu-lar week’s game. There was a relationship between teams’ combined winning percentage and television ratings for both the NBC and ESPN samples of games. The results for NBC are, however, skewed because the highest rated game of the season, New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys, 15.1, featured both teams with a perfect record in week two. When removing this game from the sample for the NBC games, there was no longer a relationship between teams’ combined win-ning percentage and the television ratings. It is logical to assume that NFL teams with a high winning percentage would be the teams with many players that are starting in a high percentage of fantasy leagues – after all, it is yards gained (passing, running, or receiving), touchdowns, and defensive performance that lead to NFL team success and determine fantasy success. A correlation was thus conducted using teams’ winning percentage and the number of NFL players starting in a high percentage of fantasy leagues for that particular week. For the games on NBC there was a relationship between winning percentage and games with NFL players starting in greater than 90 per-cent of fantasy leagues, but not a relationship between games on NBC with NFL players stating in greater than 50 percent of fantasy leagues. For ESPN, there was not a relationship between games on ESPN with NFL players starting in greater than 90 percent of fantasy leagues, but there was a relationship between win-ning percentage and games with NFL players starting in greater than 50 percent of fantasy leagues. In testing the 2008 teams’ combined winning percentage, often used as a factor by the league and networks in selecting prime-time matchups, with the televi-sion rating for the 2009 games there was not a relationship for games on NBC. However, if removing the week seventeen game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets where their combined winning percentage for 2008 was 41 percent, there was a relationship. It is important to note that the Bengals at Jets game was one that NBC chose to flex into because of the game’s playoff im-plications – if the Jets won, they would advance to the NFL playoffs. For ESPN, there was not a relationship between the 2008 teams’ combined winning per-centage and the television rating for the 2009 games.


Finally, in testing the margin of victory variable with the television rating, for the games on NBC there was a negative correlation, meaning that the closer the score of the game, the higher the rating. This result was fueled by the highest rated game between the Giants and the Cowboys having a margin of victory of two points, the second highest rated game on NBC between the New England Pa-triots and the Indianapolis Colts having a one point margin of victory, as well as the third lowest rated game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Jets being a 37 point win for the Jets. For ESPN there was not a relationship be-tween the margin of victory and the television rating when using all games. Analysis The results provide some evidence that there is a relationship between NFL play-ers starting in a high percentage of fantasy leagues for that particular week and the television rating for that particular game. Games with more NFL players starting in a high percentage of fans’ fantasy football leagues do have a positive relationship with that game’s rating (with variations by NBC or ESPN, and by the threshold of greater than 90 percent or 50 percent). Some explanation for the difference in results between the NBC and ESPN sam-ples can be provided by examining the specific games. The NBC games only had a relationship for NFL players starting in greater than 90 percent of fantasy leagues when correlated with both rating, and winning percentage. The two games with the highest rating and winning percentage (New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts) had the most NFL play-ers starting in greater than 90 of fantasy leagues. This was not the case when ap-plying the measure of NFL players starting in greater than 50 percent of fantasy leagues. Of the three games on NBC with the highest number of NFL players starting in greater than 50 percent of fantasy leagues, only one game was among the top three rated. For the ESPN games there was more consistency with a statistically significant re-lationship between the measures of NFL players starting in both of the greater than 90 percent and 50 percent thresholds of fantasy leagues when correlated with both rating, and winning percentage. The two games with the highest rating and winning percentage (Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings and New Eng-land Patriots at New Orleans Saints) had the most NFL players starting in both greater than 90 percent and 50 percent of fantasy leagues.


Several factors contribute to the television rating of a sports event. It is certainly not being proffered here that the fantasy football is the only factor influencing the television rating. The evidence here shows that games between teams with higher winning percentages do have a positive relationship with the television rating for both the NBC and ESPN sample. This relationship is not surprising as games between good teams draw the casual fan that is so important for increas-ing the television rating. It is also not surprising that there is a relationship be-tween team winning percentage and the number of NFL players starting in a high percentage of fantasy leagues as the great players who often score or throw touchdowns that help their NFL teams win are the same players who help fantasy football teams win as well. Margin of victory is the most difficult variable to predict prior to the game being played, but there was evidence from the NBC games that the closer the score of the game, the higher the game’s rating. There was not, however, a relationship between the margin of victory variable and the television rating for the games on ESPN. The margin of victory measure for NFL games might not be as important for some fans who are more concerned with the outcome of their fantasy foot-ball game. For example, fans might not care if the New Orleans Saints are beat-ing the New England Patriots by 21 points as they continue to watch to see if Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints quarterback, throws another touchdown pass. Certain games had the perfect combination of teams with high winning percent-ages, many players starting in fantasy leagues, and a small margin of victory. For example, the game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts on NBC featured seven players starting in greater than 90 percent of fantasy leagues (Colts: Peyton Manning, 97 percent; Reggie Wayne, 99 percent; Dallas Clark, 98 percent. Patriots: Tom Brady, 98 percent; Randy Moss, 100 percent; Wes Welker, 99 percent; Stephen Gotskowski, 97 percent), the teams had a com-bined winning percentage of 88 percent, and the game was decided by one point. The New England at Indianapolis game had a rating of 13.7, fifteen per-cent higher than the 11.6 average rating for the games on NBC. Discussion For a league that earns $3.75 billion in broadcast revenue per year (the current broadcast contracts expire after the 2013 season) the more people watching and the more motivations that they have to watch the NFL will lead to further eco-


nomic growth for the league. So while prior to the increase in fantasy football participation researchers identified fans were most motivated by the unknown outcome of the game and to watch their favorite teams win, the motivation to watch the NFL players that help their fantasy team win could now serve as an ad-ditional motivation an create an instrumental media use to watch NFL games. This study only samples one season and 33 games so further examination of any fantasy football impact on television ratings needs to be conducted before larger conclusions can be drawn. However, a fan of the Green Bay Packers may not have an intrinsic interest in watching a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Miami Dolphins as the outcome of the game has no impact on the Packers’ standings. That fan, however, may have Peyton Manning as the starting quarter-back in his or her fantasy lineup (or Manning is starting in the opponent’s lineup) and cares if Manning throws a touchdown pass and the amount of passing yard-age he compiles.

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