No Longer a “Fantasy”: The Real Market Scoop on a Digital Sports Pastime
Fantasy Sports is an incredibly popular pastime for most sports audiences.
In a recent survey we at Crowd React Media wanted to get a good idea of what sports audiences look like. We did this through an online survey in which we talked to over 500 people and gauged their interests in sports. The results were eye-opening. Respondents qualified to participate in the survey by stating they either watch/stream sports, bet on sporting events, or play Fantasy Sports or esports.
A clear majority (59%) of sports audiences that Crowd React Media interviewed regularly play Fantasy Sports. Two/thirds of all male sports aficionados play Fantasy Sports from time to time (67%), whereas women are not far behind at 49%. Our sports media survey showed that 31% of Fantasy Sports audiences play Fantasy Sports daily, 36% percent play Season-Long Fantasy Sports, and 30% play both Daily and Season-Long Fantasy Sports. This represents remarkable market saturation from a devoted audience. Let’s take a look at the following graph:
Graph (Below): Do you play daily fantasy sports or season-long fantasy sports?
Of particular interest is that 39% of Fantasy Sports audiences ages 18-29 are playing daily. Also, 36% of Fantasy Sports audiences ages 30-49 are playing both Daily and Season-Long Fantasy Sports. So, in addition to Sports-Betting on the horizon, Fantasy Sports further locks in its sports-hungry audiences.
Fantasy Sports audiences are not simply logging on to their favorite fantasy websites to play. They are also listening to Sports Talk (e.g. radio, podcast, etc.) to get the latest information on players and leagues for Fantasy Sports purposes (e.g. who to sit vs. start in an upcoming matchup). When asked about their level of agreement concerning the reasons they listen to Sports Talk, 49% of people who listen to Sports Talk want to hear about Fantasy Sports.
Table (Below): What is your reason for listening to Sports Talk Radio/Programming/Podcasts? Please indicate whether you agree with the following statement using a 1-5 scale, where a “1” means you strongly disagree, and a “5” means you strongly agree.
The above table illustrates the appetite of Sports Talk audiences for Fantasy Sports, with 26% strongly agreeing (5’s in the above table) that hearing about Fantasy Sports is one of the main reasons they listen, if not the reason they listen. The 4’s in this table represent those that agree with the statement that they listen to sports talk to hear about Fantasy Sports. Combine the 5’s and 4’s and you have 49% of Sports Talk audiences wanting to hear about fantasy sports.
So, we have established that Fantasy Sports is a mainstay for the sports market at large. You now may be wondering as to which sports are most popular among Fantasy Sports players. Let’s consult the following graph:
Graph (Below): What Fantasy Sports do you play? (Select all that apply)
Football is the vastly preferred choice among American Fantasy Sports audiences at 81%, while Basketball comes in second at 61%. A notable feature of our findings is that Football season typically lasts around 5 months with the least number of games of all the major sports leagues. Yet Football enjoys the highest share of Fantasy Sports Audiences. The preferences of our respondents after Football are a little more diffuse. Basketball (NBA) lasts around 7-8 months (including playoffs), with a considerable share (61%) of Fantasy Sports audiences partaking. Beyond Football and Basketball, Soccer is of interest as there is a growing number of foreign leagues and tournaments finding themselves on Major US Cable Networks and Streaming Platforms. Soccer is essentially a year-round global sport, that naturally allows for more Fantasy Sports audiences.
Fantasy Sports has become an integral part of the sports experience and will continue to significantly influence the market for years to come.
TL;DR
- 59% of sports audiences play Fantasy Sports.
- Men account for most Fantasy Sports players (67%), while women are not too far behind (49%)
- 39% of Fantasy Sports audiences ages 18-29 are playing daily.
- 36% of Fantasy Sports audiences ages 30-49 are playing both Daily and Season-Long Fantasy Sports.
- A significant share of sports audiences listen to Sports Talk Radio/Programming/Podcasts to hear about Fantasy Sports (49%).
- Football is far and away the most popular Fantasy Sport in the US (81%), with Basketball following in second (61%)
- Soccer has increased share of Fantasy Sports audiences due to the diffusion of Cable and Streaming Rights
(Survey Fielded Online in May and June of 2021. In-tab 535+ Respondents from Major Metros across the United States)
