Fantasy Football Players Are Dream Demographic — If You Can Get Their Attention
In the early ’90s, fantasy football was the equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons — an addictive but not-so-cool hobby you didn’t discuss in public, enjoyed mostly by those with a passion for sports and keeping track of statistics using paper, pencil and calculator. Two decades later, high-speed internet and easy to use apps have made it an extremely popular blood sport with bragging rights. This year, 25.8 million people will play, according to market research firm Ipsos, and generate $1.1 billion in revenue.
So it’s no surprise that marketers and media outlets continue to invest in it. Volkswagen and Snickers now commit as much as $3 million in fantasy football sponsorships with ESPN, CBS, the NFL or Yahoo, which together comprise 76% of the fantasy market, according to Ipsos.
“Our dream user that we talk about is, we get an 18-year-old kid going into college, get nine of his friends to play fantasy football, and we have them for the next 30 years,” said John Diver, ESPN’s senior director of product development. And, of course, they spend a lot of time reading and watching sports news to get the latest updates on players.
