Attention entrepreneurs: the following would have seemed as fictional as Star Wars to our grandparents, not to mention Vince Lombardi. However, it is all true and there is a valuable lesson in this: you can monetize anything!
Congratulations to the NFL. They have found a way to maintain a large fan base despite the myriad of off-field issues that they seem to ignore on a weekly basis. The 2012 referee strike and inept replacements? Forget it, that didn’t even register on the NFL fans’ “Things to Worry About List.” This is a league that has recently seen popular players charged or found guilty of domestic violence, rape, child abuse, and murder. Good guys, huh? In short, there is NOTHING stopping us from tuning in every Thursday, Sunday, and Monday (in the life of me, I’m sure there will be a game every night of the week). The TV ratings suggest that this monster really IS too big to fail.
So why do we do it? It’s not because we care who wins or loses the actual game. Some of us do, but now we are in the minority. No, wins and losses aren’t even the second reason. Sports betting, while illegal in most states, WAS what kept the NFL at the top of the sports fan list. People bet almost $10 billion on the Super Bowl alone. Imagine what a full season brings. The joke used to be something like “Dad’s favorite team is the Dolphins and he wants them to win by less than 4 points.” However, because gambling has such a negative connotation in society, people don’t talk about it much, let alone when they lose.
The thing that will help the NFL stay king of the hill indefinitely turns out to be the betting photographic negative. It’s Fantasy Football, and it’s almost gotten to the point where we can drop the word “Fantasy” from the name. It’s quite real, and it’s here to stay. Gambling is illegal because it is considered a “game of chance”. Betting on Fantasy Football is legal because it is considered a “game of skill” (don’t ask me who decides these things, but it’s true). Gambling is ugly because it can ruin people’s lives when they lose. Fantasy Football is innocent and fun, although you spend the same amount of money to participate, and yes, you lose half. With the game, there is only money. With Fantasy Football, there’s money, but also fun team names, trophies, and bragging rights. It’s market norms versus societal norms, once again. Unless you live in one of the few states where gambling is legal, you need connections with people with connections to participate. Playing Fantasy Football only requires an Internet connection and as little as a $1 investment.
Fantasy Football’s roots go back to the 1960s, but that was a different world. It wasn’t until the last 10 years, thanks entirely to the Internet, that it took off and became crazy… and SERIOUS business. About 40 million Americans are playing some form of Fantasy Football this year and spending roughly $2 billion to do so, but that’s just the beginning. When you consider the entire industry, the empire that is Fantasy Football is estimated to be worth over $50 billion! And it will continue to grow. Everybody is doing it. I play, my friends play. Heck, even NFL players play! Just this week, an NFL player tweeted: “I’m probably going to miss my fantasy football game this week because (Adrian Peterson) can’t play Sunday because of disciplining his son…” Really.
While you won’t hear announcers talk about point differentials, they frequently refer to Fantasy stats. The crawl at the bottom of the TV screen is now dedicated to the new national pastime. As big as the NFL has become, they recognize that they NEED the Fantasy Football element to keep their brand healthy, so they go to great lengths to promote it. There are magazines, books, radio shows and TV shows dedicated to him and there’s even a TV series based on a group of friends united by their Fantasy Football league. Only in America!
Online Fantasy Football sites are raising money, cashing in on the popularity of this “game of skill.” One of the most popular sites boasts of paying out over $10 million per week. Considering they are cleverly charging 10% of every dollar to facilitate the thousands of contests between strangers, it’s easy to calculate how a company like this can quickly be worth millions almost overnight. And it’s not just NFL football. Most of these sites provide the forum for baseball, hockey, basketball, golf, and major “fantasy” college sports.
The lesson from all of this is simple: if you build the site, they will come and come with dollars to spend. Find the product that drives people crazy and make it available online, in any way you can. If you don’t have the product itself, write a book about it. If you don’t want to write a book, write an article and sell it. Position yourself as an “expert” (anyone who questions you anyway), and you’ll get a price.
Now if you’ll excuse me. It’s almost game time and I need to fuel my kicker’s offense to move the ball down the field to the 30-yard line and then stop. Rare thing, this Fantasy Football.