"FoxSports.com charging back into fantasy football"

From SportsBusiness Journal

Review by Henry Bronez in SRM 334

Fantasy Football in the past several years has become a large social network among young men, who commit large amounts of time, effort and in many cases money into fantasy sport leagues and teams. Draft days have evolved into large event that sees friends traveling and rearranging schedules in order to come together to draft teams for the new season. As fantasy sports have gained popularity and the market grows ever larger, businesses and corporations are vying amongst themselves to gain dominance in the adolescent market.

FoxSports.com used to host fantasy football, but in 2005, a year that saw many fantasy football leagues change from fee based to free, the site suffered several technical and organizational difficulties, which left it far behind its competition as fantasy sport’s popularity started to take off. The site is now attempting to re-enter the market and become a major player in the fantasy football market, in which a few large companies such as Yahoo, CBS Sports, ESPN and the NFL currently control the majority of the market.

Fox sports has been aggressively campaigning its re-entrance into fantasy sports, largely on the Fox Television networks and its affiliates as well through social media to attract consumer attention. Television ads have been running during Major League Baseball games that Fox broadcasts and also during the National Football League’s preseason. Two main competitors, Yahoo and ESPN have strong footholds already and successful leagues with loyal user bases, which will hinder Fox gaining ground in the market. ESPN also possess a media network that is on par with Fox media in order to advertise and promote the leagues that it already has in existence to try to maintain dominance.

This article pertains to us studying the media because the fantasy football market has blown up in popularity in the past few years and transformed from a leisurely pastime into a competitive quasi-sport. There are a variety of leagues, free or fee-based, some just for fun and others that are highly competitive with large ticket prizes such as Super Bowl tickets or cash. Even though the market is dominated by a few significant players Fox media controls one of the largest and widespread media networks in the country and has ties to other large corporations and leagues through which it can advertise its new fantasy leagues. Fox Sports is unquestionably behind in gaining a foothold in the fantasy football market, however it has business relationships and large enough media reach that in a few years there is a possibility that Fox may be one of the big players fantasy sports.

---

Review by Ryan Oliphant in SRM 334

FoxSports.com is attempting an aggressive re-entry into the fantasy football market after setbacks and technical failures in 2005 which saw many consumers go to competing outlets. Fox’s new fantasy football program is being supported by WhatIfSports.com and the company has a goal of eventually being in the top three of the market. To do this Fox has to compete with other leading companies such as Yahoo Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports and NFL.com. Like most of these other key competitors FoxSports.com new fantasy program will be free to use. To be a major player in the market Fox will have to use its extensive reach, particularly through TV baseball coverage and NFL game day coverage to attract and obtain new players for their game.

FoxSports.com will have a difficult time making a splash right away in the market even through their extensive coverage of the NFL and baseball on TV. The company will most likely be in fifth place in the fantasy football market in the short term as the other companies are more familiar to people and have a well established product. To be in the top three of this competitive industry FoxSports.com will have to have appealing ads on TV throughout popular sporting events. FoxSports.com will also have to have an easy to use system for the game and some distinguishable features that make their product different.

This current issue/topic is related to this course because the game of fantasy football has become a huge part of sports media and communication over the past five years. There are now TV shows just on fantasy football, as well as magazines and radio stations that just talk about the game. There are apps for smart phones that can give updates and scores to people playing and even during the NFL games fans can see updates for their fantasy player’s flash in the bottom of the screen with the scores of the different games around the league.