With fantasy sports taking over the question arises of how fantasy sports affects fandom? In the world of sports there are a few different types of fans. From fair-weather to die-hard, and in between. First you have the social fan, they are mostly in it just for the experience, they usually don’t care who wins. Next you have the focused fan, they usually support a city, not a specific team. If they live in a city, they are a fan of that city’s sports teams. Last there is the vested fan. This fan is extremely attached to their team. Their mood will depend on how their team did that day.
With all the different types of fans, comes the reason why these people are fans to begin with. Some, are fans for the aesthetic beauty of the game. These people have a deep appreciation for the game. They either played it as children or just grew up watching the sport. The next motive is achievement. Some people feel some sort of accomplishment if they were there when say, their favorite team won a championship. They believe in the 12th man concept, that the fans have some sort of pull on whether the team wins or loses. Lastly, some are fans for the drama. These fans love a close game or a last minute touchdown to win the Super Bowl. They’re in it for the thrill of it.
All these different types of fans fall into different communities in the fantasy sports world. The first community is statistical enthusiasts. This community is filled with fans who are obsessed with the numbers. Their fantasy leagues are usually more complicated. This type of player could tell you whether or not to play a certain player based on his previous performance against any team. They can break down all the stats of any player and tell you whether or not they would be a good pick. The type of fan that would most likely be apart of this community would be a vested fan. These people put a lot of time and energy into their team. Something only a vested fan would do. These people usually have some sort of deep appreciation for the sport. Next you have the fan first community of players. These players like to participate in the fantasy sport but when it comes down to their fantasy team winning or their real life favorite team winning, they would much rather see their favorite real life team win. This type of fan would rather lose $300 in their fantasy sports league, then see their favorite team lose. They usually are in the fantasy league just for the love of the game or so they can follow the sport closer. This type of player could either be a vested fan or a focused fan. They could just be very dedicated to their favorite home town team or they are hard core die hard fans and would have it no other way then their team winning. These fans could be motivated by either the aesthetic beauty of the game or achievement. Next you have the homers. This group of players cannot and will not stray from their favorite team. They will stack their fantasy team with players from their favorite real life team. This way they never have to root against their favorite team, it takes their fandom to a new level I would consider obsession. No matter if they have the choice between the number one quarter back in the league or their favorite teams quarter back, they always stay true to their team. The type of fan that would be in this community would be either a focused fan or a vested fan. These fans are probably in it for the sense of achievement. They probably feel that if they pick the whole team its just another way of supporting their favorite team, and the more support the better the team does in the eyes of some fans. Lastly you have the community of players that are in it merely for the social aspect. These fans do it for a conversation starter. They’re the player that never actually pays attention to how or why they got points but they just know it happened. The type of fans that are usually in this community could be any of the three. But most likely would be a social fan, because again, they are apart of the community for the social aspect of it all. The motivation of this type of player would be for the drama. I say this because they’re in it merely for entertainment purposes so they probably have no other motivation besides that.
I would probably consider myself a social/focused fan but I do not participate in fantasy sports. But if I did, I would probably do it for the drama or social aspects. It would not be smart of me to take fantasy sports that seriously with the little I know about them.
ReplyDeleteFor the Homers, they not only pick their favorite teams player's so they will never have to root against them, they pick them because they are familiar with them because they've watched them play every Sunday. This is a huge part of it because Homers will pick their favorite players and they'll even get to watch them on TV because you watch your favorite team every week anyways. In terms of the Sport Fan Continuum, which is what I looked at in my blog, a Homer would most easily be comparable to a fan who would want Enhanced Enjoyment. i.e. "I am already watching my favorite team each weekend, so why not join a fantasy league so I can track my players while I'm watching too! They do it for enhanced enjoyment of the game they already watch.
ReplyDeleteI'm defiantly a homer. I stick to my guns and to the people I know. I really don't take any big risk because I don't really know other players. Or I just pick players that have the highest numbers. (If you can't tell I'm not really good at Fantasy).
ReplyDeleteI'm most certainly not a homer, but when you're a Lions fan unless you get Megatron or Stafford there really isn't much more that you want. I'm the player that likes to look for sleepers though. Last year my last pick was a tight end that finished in the top five but nobody has ever heard of. His name is Kyle Rudolph and he plays for the Vikings. I'll probably have to find a new sleeper next year because I don't like taking tight ends right away. Enough rambling though, way to nail the topic!
ReplyDeleteWatching social fans take part in fantasy is always a good laugh. They often don't know too much about the sport and try and come up with "cool phrases" just to fit in. However, it is usually disheartening when a social fan wins money off of fantasy.
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