Rovell Informs Folks That Fantasy is Big Business
All this week, CNBC sports business maven Darren Rovell is focusing a series of reports on the emerging fantasy sports industry.
Although the first few videos aren’t likely to present much new information to anyone who has been tracking this industry closely, it is still interesting at least to get the more mainstream business perspective of fantasy sports. The quick take: We still have some work to do to be broadly accepted as a serious business segment.
TV talking heads will often provide less-than-ideal examples, but if you watch the video below beyond the soundbyte from FSTA president Paul Charchian, you’ll hear Power Lunch co-host Tyler Mathisen say, “Shakegian? Was that his name? … They have a trade association now?”
Yup, “they” have a trade association now … and have for more than 10 years, actually.
Video No. 2 repeats some of the industry dollar figures laid out the first time around, but it also presents some interesting information. For one thing, 20 percent of fantasy content sites reportedly follow subscription models at this point (though I’m not sure if that number includes those with free and pay levels).
Perhaps more interestingly (depending on your priorities), Hooters says it expects to host more than 25,000 fantasy football drafts this year. According to the company’s website — which I swear I only visited for work purposes — the chain has 455 restaurants in 44 states, which averages out to nearly 55 drafts per location. With that kind of projection (no matter how truthful it might be), it’s no wonder Hooters offers a dedicated URL for draft-party reservations, as well as a free draft kit (with draftboard, cheat sheets, etc.) and a fantasy-centric game-piece gimmick that includes a Super Bowl trip.
Hooters is merely another example of sports-bar type settings realizing the power of the fantasy sports consumer and pursuing us players. Even if Tyler Mathisen doesn’t get it, those paying a bit more attention do.
We’ll have more as we see further Rovell fantasy videos (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Here’s the aforementioned second one …
Tags: cnbc, darren rovell, fantasy football, fantasy sports, fantasy sports business, fantasy sports industry, fantasy sports ventures, fsta, hooters, paul charchian
