Qualitative Communication Inquiry

Final Narrative Dissertation 

“The Online Fantasy Baseball Phenomenon:

An Analysis of Consumer Uses and Gratifications ”

Introduction - Abstract

            A seemingly innocent and innocuous beginning commenced in 1960 when Harvard Professor William Gamson created the "Baseball Seminar" (Schwarz, 2004), where he and his colleagues unknowingly hatched the very foundations of what would later turn out to be “fantasy sports” by formulating a game using rosters of professional baseball players that earned points on each players' final statistics for that season. A few years later and just as inconspicuous, the “Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League” arguably became the starting point for the future of fantasy football (Saraceno, 2006). It took, however, an almost 20 more years before a New York magazine editor, Daniel Okrent, fine-tuned and expanded on these previous versions in what he christened “Rotisserie League Baseball”(now commonly referred to as “Roto” leagues), a namesake of theirfavorite local restaurant, La Rotisserie Francaise, where he and his friends met to conduct league activities. In the process of ushering in the modern era of fantasy sports, the importance of Okrent’s contributions cannot be overstated, which include the now famous institution of player distribution via a traditional draft process and more importantly, the concept of using the statistics compiled during the professional baseball season rather than the final stats at season’s end (Tozzi, 1999). These two changes sculpted the structural foundation and design for the present day blueprint and playing field that most fantasy sports GMs and leagues have played on and built upon since then and continue doing so to this day.

          The surprising element is that from these meager and auspicious origins, this institution has evolved from the whim of invention of a simple game involving real life sports that these forefathers and their friends could play together, to germinating, erupting, and blitzkrieging through the last quarter century exponentially transforming itself into the global and thriving phenomenon known as “Fantasy Sports.” The advent of the personal computer and World Wide Web have obviously also played huge roles in this explosion as face-to-face “leagues” that formerly could only have been conducted in person from consumers that lived near each other were taken global and could now be created and managed via the Internet with users from all over the world in the same league. Professional sports with cable TV and their own individual sports networks have similarly taken off to heretofore previously unattained success. The past decade has also seen the arrival of the even newer wonder of Internet Social Networking. The incredible ménage à trois of these three potent entities all at the same time could not have been made better in Sports Heaven. Sports fans and fanatics from all different ages, nationalities, countries, and languages now socialize and compete with and against each other in hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of online Internet fantasy sports leagues all around the world.

          Without going into intricate detail of the complete inner workings of fantasy sports, in layman’s terms it is an attempt to partially re-create for the consumer the vicarious experiences of being an actual real-life professional sports team’s Owner, General Manager, and Bench Manager (commonly referred to as a “Fantasy GM” or just “GM”), all wrapped up in one entity. The role playing experiences of a real life Major League Baseball (MLB) Bench Manager’s duties consisting of daily lineup changes and in-game management, are complemented by the vicarious gratification of a real life MLB General Manager’s responsibilities that concentrate more on player acquisition and roster maintenance, and which are both ultimately superceded, and are subordinate to, the greater satisfaction that any final “the buck stops here” decision of a real life MLB team owner brings. This control of one’s destiny is strongly noted as being a key factor in fantasy GMs usage and gratifications. People get into fantasy sports because they want to see if their idea of how to manage a team is effective and since they are in charge of almost everything associated with their teams (except the hated trade vetoes), they are able to obtain satisfaction from successfully feeding their control “fix.” Survey responses supported this view with replies like, “Since having fun was not an answer choice, I had to determine why fantasy baseball was fun to me.  I believe this is the main reason.  Furthermore, I think being able to have some control over something fans generally have no control over plays into this,”…“The ability to have more control over negative affecting influences of a player’s performance,” and “Living Vicariously. I like acting as if I am really a GM when drafting or making a trade.” This multi-dimensional triumvirate fantasy sports experience of Owner, GM, and Manager includes the creation of and daily management of each user’s fantasy ‘team,’ normally by way of a conventional draft process for the initial player distribution, and allows people that love sports to compete in a more interactive format than the traditional, more passive sports viewing. In an odd twist, and in contrast to the local sports bar where most everyone follows and cheers (pun intended) for the same team (“and everyone knows your name!”), in fantasy sports leagues there is almost never a consensus of every person’s favorite team and in fact fantasy sports bring together consumers of vastly diverse sports fandoms, and to a further extent, personal backgrounds. Along with most other things of interest to people, this diversity is not only a blessing of mixed opinions about league rules, settings, format, etc., but like the proverbial double-edged sword, it also presents challenges due to this exact same variety. Consequently, these cultural differences or concurrences might arguably impact online fantasy sports consumers’ attitudes about their usage as well as the level or quality of the gratifications they receive from their consumption. Additional usage factors such as consumer personal goals and fantasy sports websites’ features and credibility play into consumer decisions about which website to patronize and affect whatever reward or enjoyment gratification they obtain. Hence, any information able to be gained by analyzing fantasy sports consumers’ usage habits and corresponding degrees of satisfaction would stand to reason to be highly useful for a variety of purposes, one such example being fantasy sports websites’ marketing strategies to potentially improve their products and services.

          By and large, the vast majority of fantasy sports GMs (consumers), while commonly reported being seen in the wild, are a bit like Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman in the sense that the general public really does not know a lot about them. Therefore, in an area that has thus far escaped significant academic inquiry, and in an effort to provide an introductory framework and uncover more substantial reasoning why the phenomenon of online fantasy sports became and has remained so popular, I have conducted an in-depth analysis of fantasy sports consumption utilizing the Uses and Gratifications Communication Theory (La Rose & Eastin, 2008). By examining the combination of these two powerful contemporary pastimes, Fantasy Sports and Internet Usage, an attempt to answer the thesis question, “Why do people play online fantasy sports and what degree of gratifications do they receive from it?” was performed. The undertaking, consisting of an in-depth literature review, comprehensive qualitative questionnaire, direct personal interviews, and a detailed discussion of the findings, reveals a much greater insight into the heart, soul, and psyche of the typical fantasy sports consumer and also the total fantasy sports culture as a whole. Please note, for the purposes of this research, as part of any limitations that are duly documented, and as the proper perspective to view the discoveries of this dissertation, rather than study the entire gamut of the fantasy sports world, the sport and demographic of Online Internet Fantasy Baseball was selected as the specific source of focus and representational sampling of the degrees of all fantasy sports GMs’ everywhere respective uses and gratifications.

Literature Review

            An extensive literature review revealed some impressive previous scholarly research. Examining motivational factors behind fantasy sports usage, Dae Hee, et al. (2010) noted that although “fantasy sports consumption is a relatively new form of sports spectatorship,” their findings suggested “three main characteristics from marketing and psychological perspectives that typify the consumption of fantasy sport.”  The authors characterized these reasons and attributes (gratifications) as: empowerment, achievement/reward, and outcome uncertainty. The article highlights the empowerment factor as being different from traditional forms of sport spectatorship (live or on TV) with the added dynamic of participants being actively engaged in the consumption process (and the outcome). The achievement/reward aspect focuses on competitiveness, accomplishment, pride, and extrinsic rewards. The uncertainty factor deals with the excitement of not knowing the outcome of the game, and also extends this further to equate it with the feeling of gambling, especially when cash prizes are involved.

            Further studies have looked at other aspects of consumer usage related to real life sports. Dwyer & Drayer (2010) observed forms of fantasy sports consumption and participation and found a large disparity between the huge increase in all sports consumption during the past two decades, pro sports and fantasy sports, and what they felt was the underdevelopment of research into fantasy sports specifically. Their findings suggested that fans that are more engaged in fantasy sports (fantasy-dominant), in fact watch more real life sports games. While his (or her) favorite team-dominant counterpart may only watch for a single three-hour block on Sunday afternoon, the fantasy-dominant consumer has an interest in games throughout the league and therefore watches significantly more. Therefore, fantasy football is not negatively impacting fans' attitudes toward their favorite team, but in contrast serves as a useful tool to increase television viewership, which should be a clear incentive to professional sports leagues and teams to heavily promote fantasy sports participation amongst its fans. The article also states, however, that there is a tendency for fantasy-dominant consumers to have stronger levels of attachment to individual players as opposed to their favorite team. While this group of consumers is still in the minority, the results also showed that fantasy-dominant consumers have played fantasy sports for more years than favorite team-dominant consumers. These authors’ research further advocates that not only should professional sports leagues embrace the fantasy sports population as much as it does their regular fans, but that fantasy-dominant consumers should also be more attractive to restaurants, bars, sports-related websites, and cellular phone providers as potential new customers due to their significantly higher levels of consumption.

            Dwyer & Kim (2011) more recently investigated the driving forces behind people’s reasons for playing fantasy sports. The authors looked at the dynamic from multiple perspectives including “the media dominated sports fan,” “the uses and gratifications of fantasy sports users” (perfect for this study), “motivation from a purely sports viewpoint”, and “motivational dimensions of fantasy sports participation.” The results of their study identified four distinct categories classified as “Operational Definitions of the 4 Motivational Factors for Fantasy Sport Participation” that are described as: “gambling,” “social interaction,” “competition,” and “entertainment/escape.”

          Young & Pedersen (2010) examined user’s impressions of different fantasy sports websites they use. The authors analyzed and compared various factors common to all the websites and customer reaction to each of them. Their study tried to determine if the gratification levels among users match the respective usage levels of each fantasy sports websites. The authors reasonably surmise that since consumers will benefit from the increased growth and popularity surrounding fantasy sports, it consequently makes sense for fantasy sports websites to tailor their products so they are more attractive, affordable, and fulfilling the needs of their user base. The article continues by observing relationships between website service quality, user satisfaction, user attitude, and user behavioral intentions. The study utilized a survey of almost 300 users for data collection, spread across four separate fantasy sports websites and discovered user impressions of four distinct service quality dimensions; ease of use, trust, content, and appearance that suggest might help fantasy sports websites better market their products.

          Bernhard & Eade (2005) investigated the “mass phenomenon” of fantasy baseball comparing its professional sports counterpart’s (Major Leagues Baseball) appeal as the “national pastime.” Their article researches the relationship of fantasy baseball and gambling and also fantasy baseball as a “culture”, complete with its own distinct norms, values, and codes of ethics. The authors look into the relationship between gambling and gaming as well as the values, norms, and culture that is created within each group of users (leagues) and, to a greater extent, the fantasy baseball world as a whole. In a great connection to the gratification aspect of fantasy sports, the article also explores “living the vicarious life” of a fantasy sports user, comparing it to “fantasy camps” that fans attend to acquire a “living the dream” experience. Finally, another excellent feature this article employs is describing the positive and negative consequences of fantasy sports usage. Affirmative results are listed as critical thinking and analytical (“fanalytical”) skills and in fact message boards and forums are full of discussion topics on how to improve a fantasy user’s skill set. A reasonable extension of “bar room debates” and trash talking are further noted as additional positive characteristics associated with fantasy sports play along the outlet for the “competitive drive.” On the flipside, negative consequences attributed to fantasy sports are the over-concern for “statistical gluttony” and that this perverts natural, less-attached sports viewing, values, and even virtues such as sportsmanship, teamwork, and sacrifice. Additional destructive issues were stated including fantasy sports becoming an addiction and/or fantasy sports results affecting personal life and relationships.

          LaRose & Eastin (2004) researched Internet uses and gratifications from the Social Cognitive Theory approach (Bandura, 1986) as a conceptual framework. The authors focused on uses and gratifications theory in relation to general consumer participation, not specific to fantasy sports. One benefit of this study was the combining of previous research techniques in the field of Uses and Gratifications Theory with recent studies and findings of Internet media. The findings noted that the expected outcomes are organized around six basic types of incentives for human behavior: novel sensory, social, status, monetary, enjoyable activity, and self-reactive. Additionally, analysis included the comparison of these six categories against Internet gratifications. One interesting element of their findings was “the perceived ability of the Internet to improve one's lot in life that emerged as a powerful motivating factor for the use of the medium.” This element also related directly to the “living vicariously” aspect of fantasy sports usage.

Method

          The first thing necessary to begin any analysis of uses and gratifications is to define them in context of the study, in this case, online fantasy sports. To accomplish this goal and determine applicable coding categories to best acquire the data sought, my research thus began with preliminary data collection and aforementioned literary review conducted between April 6 and April 24, 2011. Based upon this comprehensive review, and even though alternative means of data collection were considered, I opted for two established methods; a detailed survey questionnaire as well as in-depth personal interviews to glean further insight and explore subtle nuances the survey data revealed.

          The rationale for the research survey was to acquire a general qualitative information base of multiple users on topics relating to fantasy sports uses and gratifications. The rationale behind the survey coding (categories and areas of inquiry focus) was based on a synthesis of the most appropriate findings discovered via the scholarly literature review and the most common categories and terms that are associated with fantasy sports use and gratifications. Due to prior experience I had with qualitative research studies, the rationale for the scheduling was based on a combination of limited windows of opportunity (time restrictions) as well as knowledge of the amount of time certain stages require.

          The survey was thus conducted from April 24-27 amongst 20 selected current online experienced fantasy baseball GMs and consisted of 7 topic questions with two follow up questions each, for a total of 21 queries. Based on analysis of the cumulative survey data and noticeable trends, an interview guide and coding categories were subsequently created from April 27-April 30 with follow up questions common to both interviewees and also queries specific to each. Interviews were subsequently conducted on May 2 and May 3 and interview data analysis performed May 4 and 5. The final narrative was completed on May 8 and is formally submitted as this research paper.

Discussion

            As a fantasy sports consumer and fan myself, this project was not only important from a scholarly research standpoint, but certainly a labor of love also. Every infinitesimal piece of data, however seemingly insignificant, was in fact a choice and savory morsel and nugget in their own right on the beach of the fantasy sports wonderland backdrop. All of the respondents’ individual observations stood on their own merit as unique, subjective, personal, and credible points of view as well as being part of the greater collective fantasy sports mindset. This marked distinction and the dependent relationship between these two perspectives bring some familiar and genuinely applicable metaphors to mind. The first of these allegories, and one that truly only came to existence as the survey data was being compiled together, was that of Frankenstein’s monster, albeit solely in a benevolent manner. The monster, as you remember, was the realization of Dr. Frankenstein’s life-long dream to create human life by way of “galvanizing,” or stimulating flesh by injecting electrical energy into it. His finished product was a patchwork creation of various body parts all sewn together by a common bond and then brought to life via this galvanization. Fantasy sports as a whole, and to a more specific extent, each and every fantasy sports league everywhere, are alike in this regard as they are real life creations brought to life through the galvanization of fantasy sports organization by the spurring on and stimulation of energy injected into its previously lifeless body. However, the most valuable characteristic of this entire research project was surprisingly and ironically unexpected. After assembling all the pieces of the fantasy sports “Uses and Gratifications puzzle”, with specific focus on the complete survey data as a solitary living and breathing entity, the Dr. Frankenstein in me was astounded to watch the creature come to life. All of the respondent feedback and reactions, juxtaposed in the survey data report so that all replies to each query were grouped together, resulted in a collective fantasy sports monster that seemed less like an inert, tabulated, and informational account and much more like a charismatic and warm long-lost best friend. I probably do not agree with each and every comment or opinion, but the totality of zeal and devotion for fantasy sports that make up “the soul” of the monster makes me feel that even though I disagree on some points, as a whole, I would love to sit down and have a beer with my new colossal fantasy sports “friend” at a local bar. The degree of affection and passion exhibited in these responses that fans have for sports and fantasy sports transcends a lot of other human emotions and are not easily described to people who have not had the same experience. This love and enthusiasm, like the sinews connecting Frankenstein’s monster’s body parts, are the ties that bond all of the varying GM outlooks together. Any observation of a non-loving sports person watching dumbfoundedly at a screaming lunatic cheering for his hometown (or fantasy) sports team as if in a life-or-death situation portrays this dichotomy quite effectively. However, it is my hope that this research project injects some new knowledge and “life” into the uninitiated general public and brings with it an awareness that this raging fantasy sports monster has no malevolent intentions whatsoever and is rather, in truth, a big playful teddy bear at heart. In fact, I would strongly encourage anyone interested to say hello, introduce yourself, sit down and buy the monster a drink, and explore even more about what makes him tick. By doing so, experienced fantasy sports GMs will unquestionably learn more about their heritage and culture, a self-psychoanalysis if you will. However, a caveat to all the fantasy sports newbies and tenderfoots at large. Proceed with caution. You may discover like many of us, the fantasy sports monster is so fun much that, who knows, you just might end up become part of it!

            Although most monsters normally conjure up images of demons or evil, the second analogy comparing the fantasy sports world is that of the time-honored patchwork quilt. These “murals of Americana”, which are national and cultural icons often much more decorative than functional, are the result of many hours and intricate blending of different, one-of-a-kind ‘patches’, each with their own history, folk story, and meaning. The finished product is definitely a “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” masterpiece; a harmonious interweaving of stories, imagery, and memories often with a pervading theme and meaning, that is perfect representation of the quilt’s communal “culture.” This is Fantasy Sports in the proverbial nutshell. A seamless and thriving tapestry of individual fantasy sports GMs’ respective and cumulative experiences and cultures, interlaced and spread across the canvas of the World Wide Web. Each “patch” and GM have their rightful and necessary place, part, and purpose, just like worker ants supporting the mother colony.

          So, in an epic episode of the old TV show “This Is Your Life” and starring fantasy sports as its celebrant and honoree, our first guest is the Frankensteinian twinkle of a thought in the mind of a solitary sports nut (God bless him) a half century ago that lead to the birth of the monster of what is now known as fantasy sports. Over time, the weaving together of structure, sports fans, and most importantly the stories of fantasy sports users’ experiences inevitably led to the creation of the fantasy sports world network, resembling our second guest; a global patchwork quilt of fantasy GMs with their individual and combined cultures. This quilt-like cultural and network is continually evolving and growing like a snowball while simultaneously picking up new users, leagues, experiences, and ultimately, new stories. This constantly developing feature leads to our third guest and the penultimate and ideal perspective that perfectly, now and forevermore, and as a comprehensive framework best describes the collective body of the fantasy sports world for what it precisely and truly is; a living and breathing being. A living “thing,” if you will, that while alive like Frankenstein’s monster, displays greater evolutionary development by constantly undergoing change and metamorphosis. The connection to this epitome of a metaphor is in the method of this transformation. In John Carpenter’s innovative horror film, The Thing (1982), the source of the alien monster’s (“The Thing”) change is dictated by whatever it consumes, digesting and dissolving its prey and reshaping its image to appear as the animal or person it kills. Early in the movie, the alien monster kills a dog and afterward kills one of the crew of men. Both of these faces are later visible as part of the monster’s omelet-blob of a body, as it has absorbed these two new personalities amongst everything else it has devoured and been influenced by their unique characters, facial features, and spirits. Using this multi-dimensional “thing” metaphoric lens from a purely benevolent and positive perspective, a more fitting parallel of this ongoing and ever-changing creature that is fantasy sports does arguably not exist. Certainly negative consequences are a normal part of any undertaking as Bernhard & Eade (2005) ascertained. As a reminder, they noted “statistical gluttony” perverting natural sports viewing, fantasy sports becoming an addiction, and/or fantasy sports results affecting personal life and relationships as the principle risks associated with fantasy sports. However, these potential harms were found to be in the great minority of preceding studies although future research could concentrate more on these effects, especially as the source of data increases with continued usage.

          This research, however, found no such connection to negative consequences of fantasy sports usage. My personal experiences over more than 12 years of extensive fantasy sports use have correspondingly resulted in almost 100% positive outcomes. The overwhelming evidence presented to date has similarly supported this conclusion. Therefore, any comparison of fantasy sports to something evil such as The Thing, while extremely useful as an analytical tool, is in reality, inappropriate and undeserved on merit. Thus, the golden egg of this project laid by the goose of fable esteem and my final conclusion as a researcher, asserts that the definitive and most suitable metaphor of the fantasy sports world, and one that mirrors and is an extension of the two previous monster analogies, is that of a friendly monster, such as the kind and gentle cartoon character, Milton the Monster (Arnold, B., 1965). The lineage then of fantasy sports can be traced from its embryonic Frankenstein beginnings in 1960 and the subsequent nurturing and weaving of users into tapestries of patchwork quilt societies (leagues), to absorbing all the stories and cultures of every member that have become part of the fantasy sports monster Thing, which then emulates and represents all of these separate and mutual shared experiences. The surprising fact is that the fantasy sports world has somehow to date managed to avoid the majority of the pitfalls and dangers associated with infamous beasts of lore and has seemingly risen to the highest level of Maslow’s Hieracrhy of Needs as a self-actualized and friendly, Milton the Monster. Although pessimists will eternally search for the cloud in Milton’s fantasy silver lining, to them I say, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Just go and play with your monster.”

When all said and done then, the most ironic aspect of the fantasy sports phenomenon is that in an industry that depends solely on quantitative statistics and numbers as its fuel, its heartbeat is measured much more successfully by way of qualitative inquiry and is precisely the purpose and objective of this study. To look beyond the objective and the more silent data to the subjective and more expressive information is the hallmark of qualatitive research and it is this researcher’s hope that this goal was accomplished through the completion of this project.

Findings

- “Uses” -

          Turning to the actual data itself, it would not be hyperbole to term it “amazing.” The results of my formal survey observations and personal follow up interviews largely concurred with the information reaped from the literature reviewof previous research. However, the results of the uses aspect of this research are in stark contrast to the gratifications findings. Connecting the survey to gratification characteristics found during my literature review (Young & Pedersen, 2010), the fantasy GMs surveyed and interviewed divulged consistent and across-the-board clear-cut differences in gratifications priorities with certain aspects valued significantly higher than others. Conversely, the uses data uncovered widespread and consistent inconsistency. All of the categories that identified fantasy sports GMs’ usage priorities were found to be equally important (or unimportant) on average. Not one of the uses aspects was observed as being either of any consequence, priority, or afterthought for that matter. All facets either carried equivalent value in the respondents’ opinions or were not significant enough to distinguish between them. One cannot but wonder at the wide variety of these qualities, listed in the survey as: Affordability, Appearance/ Attractiveness, Content/Features, Ease of use, Trust/Reliability/Credibility, and marvel that no specific tendency materialized in the survey data leaning towards any one of these distinct and separate areas. This unusual result would be well served to be studied in greater depth to determine whether these features were really fairly equal in most fantasy sports users’ view, or if in fact there are discernable differences that further inquiry might unravel. Some early forays into that vein of questioning are found in several of the survey responses, namely; “Choosing an order for the top 4 choices was tough, they were all pretty close”…“It’s a utilitarian system: I don’t get thrills from browsing the website (user experience), but rather from winning”…“As long as it works fine it doesn’t matter if looks are amazing”…“As long as the competition is good, I don’t care about “the bells & whistles”…“Appearance in a website design although important is not more important than the other choices. The content of the site along with being easy to use and reliable are what make a site user friendly…not the neat logo. Give me breaking news or in depth analysis any day over the fluff. Attractive websites that lack the content will eventually let you down and frustrate leading to a poor user experience.” 

          Further connecting my findings of fantasy sports uses to prior studies, the data retrieved from survey responses concurred with Dwyer & Drayer (2010) results that fantasy sports users are more likely to be defined as “Fantasy-dominant” rather than “Favorite team-dominant”, meaning they place a higher importance on the outcomes of their fantasy teams compared with their favorite real life professional sports teams. Over half of the GMs questioned reported being Fantasy-dominant whereas only one third identified themselves as Favorite team-dominant. Feedback explaining this stronger attraction to the fantasy-dominant dynamic ranged from:  favorite team-dominant =“My favorite team is more important than my fantasy team because I have been rooting for them since I was a kid, and have only been playingfantasy baseballfor the last couple of years” and “I always cheer for my favorite team first, unless of course it’s fantasy playoffs and there is bragging rights/money on the line” to the more fantasy-dominant =“I will only draft players from my favorite teams if they are worth having.  To me it’s all about winning the league I’m in, so I draft and update my roster with the players that give me the best opportunity to do so”…“I still have my favorite teams; fantasy sports just really affects how I watch a game.  I find myself much more concerned with individual stats than the score of the game. I can tolerate my real life team losing easier if it benefited my fantasy team. I know, I’m addicted !” and “Playing fantasy baseball means that I am acutely following the season through September regardless of my favorite team’s performance that year; in other words, a good fantasy season somewhat offsets a bad favorite season.”

- “Gratifications” -

          The major similarities between my project and previous research revealed two of the three gratification attributes that Dae Hee, et al. (2010) found, empowerment and achievement/reward, were strongly represented in my findings and thereby further support these qualities as the leading factors of fantasy sports usage. If there were any platinum nuggets of “Aha!” data amidst the gold mine of qualitative perspectives this research unearthed, these two gratifications stood out brightly as the main themes. As stated earlier, Dae Hee, et al. (2010) described the empowerment factor as focused on the added dynamic of participants being actively engaged in the consumption process (and the outcome), which is reflected in the ‘Competition’ gratification category in this research. My research verified this strong sentiment to competition as the breadth of these survey responses confirms: “I love to compete in everything and fantasy sports gives me another real avenue to do so. I liken it to the stock market. You need to do your research; buy when the time is right and sell at the high point. Winning is satisfaction in the end.”…“There is nothing better than being in a league where everybody works hard with their team, and gives to their best to win.  Competition is a great thing.”… “Fantasy sports allow a person past his prime or maybe even unable to participate in real sports to feel the sheer joy that competition against other like-minded people brings.” Dae Hee, et al. (2010) expressed the achievement/reward aspect focusing also on competitiveness, but accomplishment, pride, and extrinsic rewards as well and is reflected in this study as ‘Accomplishment’ gratification category. Observable data in the survey reflecting this attitude are found in examples like, “The feeling that you we able to assemble the best team and come out on top at the end of the fantasy season are my main motivations to play fantasy sports” and “Accomplishment is the most important, because I try to be in the top 3 teams when the year is done, so if I can do that I can say that I had a better team than 9 others (in a 12-team league).”

          However, there were two main differences between the observational experiences compared to the literature review, the first of which relates to the third major gratification characteristic of fantasy sports consumers that Dae Hee, et al. (2010) coined as ‘outcome uncertainty’ and pertains to the excitement of not knowing the outcome of the game, especially the feeling of gambling when money is involved. This gratification category denoted as “Gambling/Economic” was not surprisingly of little impact or occurrence in this study, as is further explained in the “Limitations” section. Reasoning behind this lack of interest in the financial or gambling aspects of fantasy sports were illustrated in respondent comments such as, “I rarely put money down on a league, and when I do it’s never enough to really matter much”…“While I do play in “cash leagues” the money just makes it a little more interesting ( I don’t play because I need to win the money)”…and this nugget, “I live 15 minutes from a casino and don’t really need to gamble on fantasy sports. However, I usually have greater interest in money leagues I’ve played I guess because there’s more at stake.  Then again, I won $100 in a NFL playoff league in 2010 much to my surprise.  I signed up noticing prizes were offered but never figuring I’d really win anything and basically forgetting about it as a motivational factor. Again, I don’t need to gamble on fantasy sports to enjoy beating others at it. Winning money is like cherry on a sundae – it’s great either way – except I don’t like cherries on my sundae, so… make it whip cream and peanuts for me.”

          The second and most interesting difference between this research and prior studies was the surprising low regard for the social aspect of fantasy sports gratifications. Relating this to the two studies I reviewed (LaRose & Eastin , 2004; Bandura, 1986), which had described the powerful attraction and consumption of the recent trends of Social Networking websites, my findings revealed nothing of the sort for fantasy sports consumers. As an active and highly experienced online fantasy sports GM and Commissioner myself for over 12 years, I have also come to greatly enjoy the camaraderie and communal culture of an ongoing fantasy sports league environment where everyone basically knows the other league members to a certain extent, not to mention making some lasting and valuable real life friendships with other “fantasy” GMs. However, over two thirds of survey respondents indicated it was either the least important, or second to least important gratification factor of all five options presented (accomplishment, entertainment/escape, competition, gambling/economic, social interaction). Interestingly, two survey respondents even assigned identical rankings for all five categories (rated them equally), one giving this reason, “All these things play equal factors in how much I play fantasy sports. Take out any one of them and my consumption would go down just as much as taking out another.” This seemingly places the social factor squarely behind other more personal gratifications such as accomplishment, competition, escape, etc. The “Facebook/MySpace Phenomenon” has evidently not yet translated to the fantasy sports universe but I would not bet against this powerful new medium to eventually encompass fantasy sports as well. Some league home pages and league communication is already done on Facebook so it is not without precedence or possibility.

Seeking elaboration on factors why the “social circle” is not such a huge draw in fantasy sports gratification, remarks from my research shed more light on the mystery. Replies along these lines, “I have more social interaction than I need at work,” and “Of the 5 choices, Social Interaction is my least important because I play fantasy sports to compete and entertain myself not converse with my fellow GMs. Also, I find much can be lost in translation on the computer when trying to have a conversation or express ones opinions,” help to understand the widespread lack of interest in social networking amongst the average fantasy sports consumers. Future studies would be well served to look into this dynamic and reasoning further.

          Connecting the social aspect from a cultural perspective and comparing it to past findings that looked at gratification factors like identity, living vicariously, and sense of belonging (Bernhard & Eade, 2005), my research uncovered a slight paradox between social networking and culture. While this project found that the Facebook-type quality of social networking was not at all of importance to fantasy sports users, there is at least some attraction to fantasy sports as a culture. Although pride was listed as a consensus overwhelming first priority in the category grouping (survey rankings in order: Pride, Culture, Overall Value, Vicarious Life, Identity), culture did merit some attention and magnitude amongst respondents. “The majority of my leagues are with friends and the camaraderie with the league/group is the main reason for me. We are all sick and bored of the same old thing at work, our home life etc, that fantasy sports and the friendships with the league members is truly the biggest draw,” and “ Good to keep up with the guys by fantasy baseball (I’m that one guy who’s not on Facebook),” display what culture means to some GMs. However, all fantasy users obviously do not value culture the same; “With online fantasy sports, I wouldn’t recognize any of my co-GMs if they walked by me on the street.  It’s nothing personal – literally,” and “Culture is not important to me, however league integrity is.”  Further supporting the ambivalence towards the Facebook style of creating an online profile or persona, identity ran dead last as the fantasy sports GMs questioned have no interest at all in this type of living vicariously. Other GMs, however, did mention that they enjoy the vicarious aspect of being a fantasy GM. Survey accounts such as, “All fans of sports teams suggest things that their favorite team's GM should and shouldn't do.  It's fun doing a little bit of the same.”…“I always believe I can do a better job than most of the real life GMs and fantasy sports allows me to prove it.” and my personal favorite, “Who wouldn’t want to be a real life sports GM????,” testify to this sentiment. Not all fantasy sports GMs play because of wanting to live the vicarious life of a real sports GM, and in fact, many fantasy GMs do not even believe what they do accurately depicts what real sports GMs do. Comments to this effect include: “I manage as hard as I can but it could never be confused for living the vicarious life,” “I couldn’t care less because most leagues bear no relationship to what a real GM does,” and “Being a GM would be great but I think fantasy GM is far from the real thing. We’re not working with real money and we won’t get fired for doing a bad job.” Both interviewees summed up what they felt was the main difference between real life and fantasy GMs, “Fantasy takes all the risk out of being a real-life GM and keeps the good stuff,” and “Being a fantasy GM is more for self-interest, and you can forget a bad season or quit on your team (and not lose your job or face public outcry).”

           Out of all the gratifications that respondents noted, and consistent with the high degree of significance placed on the “accomplishment” category in a separate grouping, without a doubt “pride” played the largest gratification factor amongst fantasy sports GMs. This should not be a shocking discovery. Since the dawn of mankind, the male race have competed against each other in all sorts of contests featuring physical and mental strengths, from making fires, killing dinosaurs, and even probably how far they could drag their cavewomen by the hair (Uh oh, I hear the feminists now). As stated before, many modern day fantasy GMs are adults or near adults that have likely previously played some form of teams sports and enjoy the competitiveness that fantasy sports affords them. As company or community real life softball leagues, for example, continue to lose their appeal and humans continue to dive deeper in the technological pool leaving behind many past connections to whatever real life was, more and more people may indeed turn to fantasy sports to acquire the same feelings of pride that they get from any job well done in life. Replies that highlight this almost umbilical cord affinity to pride are: “When 10-12 people get together and all try to be the best at something I want to be the one that wins.  I can find other accomplishments in life but nobody is competing with me for them so I always win, pending my own standards.”…“There is something to be said for bragging rights.  It’s great to be able to talk mess to people if your team backs it up.”…“ I compete in anything I do for a since of pride and accomplishment. That’s what competition is at heart,” and “Pride is my choice because of the joy I get when I see the players I pick do well. It’s weird, but it’s as if I am a GM and I chose players that succeeded in my team has personal gratification for me. Weird.”

- Final Verdict -

            There were two main focuses for a final verdict of this fantasy sports Uses and Gratifications research project. The first was the simple question of; Does the satisfaction (gratification) that fantasy sports GMs receive equal or exceed what they put into it (uses)? The overwhelming consensus is a resounding “yes.” Only small fraction of responses indicated less gratification than usage whereas the preponderance of those surveyed listed gratifications exceeding or greatly exceeding their uses. When asked what might increase gratification levels even further, most respondent’s answers greatly concurred with the pride, accomplishment, and competition attributes heavily impacting fantasy sports satisfaction. These examples most centered on winning a higher percentage of leagues, prizes, trophies, etc. One interviewee concurred with this prevailing opinion however, the other interviewee stated what would increase his gratification as being, “Meeting new people making friends knowing that the possibility of making new (like-minded) friends.” Conversely, when asked if there was anything that would decrease their gratification levels, most replies revolved around the behavior of fellow league GMs: “Any fantasy website where there was any cheating or outrageous, demeaning or extreme vulgar talk & activity would decrease my gratification. I wouldn't be there long.”… “Taking part in leagues with inactive GM’s makes trading too hard and winning too easy,” and “Being in a bad league (dead teams, cheating Commish, rude GMs).” 

            The second focal point for the final verdict of this fantasy sports research project was a related, yet slightly different consideration that attempted to bypass all other inquiries, and cut to the heart of what fantasy sports GMs liked the best and hated the most from their consumption. Positive replies were a-plenty and some of the most influential data of this entire study is arguably found here: “I love the feel of being a real life GM.  I love the competition between friends and others I have never met.  Real life sports are the greatest entertainment for me, so Fantasy Sports add a huge element!”… “I enjoy the camaraderie and the competition the most.”… “Your question said it best…Accomplishment, competition, entertainment, gambling, and the social interaction are ALL VERY IMPORTANT in fantasy sports. Like I said, without any of these factors, it wouldn’t be the same.”…“It brings a whole to way to watch the sports that I’m participating in.  It makes baseball relevant to me again; otherwise I could care less about baseball.  It is an escape from real world pressures…a break from reality…fantasy.”… “It’s like real life in many ways. The more work, research, time, etc. you put into it, the better the outcome. But also, like real life, there are things that happen that are beyond your control & you just have to roll with the punches & never give up.”… “One thing I really like about fantasy sports is that it opened me up to knowing and/or liking a lot of other teams or players besides my normal favorites (It used to be that I was only interested in watching my Celtics play, but now I can watch any team play and while I don’t care which other teams win or lose, I do want my “fantasy players” to do well on those teams)---but I mostly like the competition.”…“Competition, success, and the feeling that you’re always with your drinking buddies from college, when in actuality you probably don’t know anyone in your league at all.” 

            However, like almost anything, there are inevitable faults and bugs that could probably benefit from improvement or change. Negative aspects listed as what these GMs hated the most about fantasy sports include: “Sometimes I spend too much time doing it & other things in my life suffer. Not enough time in the day.”…“ When people don’t participate (at the least set your lineup and offer a few trades). When people quit looking at the league page after their team has been knocked out. When people take jokes and smack talk to heart. When there’s not a prize for winning a league,”…“When it reinforces negative qualities of a sport; for example, emphasizing star-power over team make-up and balance,” or the all-time classic, “Listening to my wife yell at me about how much time I spend on the computer following my teams and updating my lineups. It’s just something women don’t understand.”

           Two notable and profound suggestions came directly from the follow up interview sessions. When asked what would potentially increase fantasy sports gratifications across-the-board amongst all users, one interviewee replied, “Tying fantasy sports more closely to your favorite team so that you aren’t rooting for both separately. I think this is key because too many people are caught between cheering for their real life teams and their fantasy teams.” Further inquisition led to the source of these impressions. This interviewee had based his response on personal experience with successful leagues that had a “hometown” flavor and format about them, which did partially tie the fantasy sports experience of its league GMs to their respective real life favorite baseball teams (Ironically, this concept was in fact my original brainchild and as one our league’s founding GMs, this interviewee adapted and improved the concept [sound like the benevolent fantasy sports monster?] on his own before reuniting with me and now currently co-commissioning an even better hometown league).

          The second insightful recommendation for improving the general gratifications of fantasy sports was from the other interviewee. He attested, “Making league/setup rules more democratic/interactive/participatory creates more involvement from all GMs,” which again was based on his prior experience with this more egalitarian league power structure where the commissioner availed greatly of GM feedback to make most league decisions. With the success of our less restrictive form of government this country has been known for (the Revolutionaries, not the 21^st legislative hogs), this proposal surely has solid empirical backing.

           Any investigation into consumer uses and gratifications, like TV’s Nielsen ratings, would also seek to do the opposite. Contrary to a one-sided project that only studies expected and actual gratifications based on consumer uses, I also qualified the potential extent of usage based on the reported gratifications (market research) via my interviews. Although both interview subjects stated that they would prefer fantasy sports websites to not learn of this information (me too), when I queried them if they would pay for the product they currently use for free, if forced to do so (i.e. existing fantasy sports websites start charging for usage, any ‘free’ websites offer only a vastly inferior and thus unappealing product, and/or all free websites disappeared entirely) like what happened to the American television viewer during the last few decades when cable and satellite programming, for all intents and purposes, forced free TV out of “business”, they replied honestly and with candor. Both answered they would indeed pay if forced to, due to their love of fantasy sports and as one interviewee put it, “Compared to the small amount of money I’d likely have to pay, it would probably be less than even going to a movie and dinner or something like that, and I get WAY more enjoyment from my fantasy sports use and gratification than I do from those other things.” While I elect to not divulge the amount either interviewee declared they would pay for fantasy sports usage (nor my own limit), the mere fact that we all are willing to pay testifies to the degree of our emotional connection to fantasy sports. While conducted in a virtual world, the gratifications that fantasy sports users receive are in fact very real, meaningful, valuable, and even worth spending money on, just like every other person’s hobbies, pursuits, and adventures. Not everyone agrees that they would pony up for their fantasy “Jones.” One survey respondent strongly rejected that notion in answering what might possibly decrease his gratifications of fantasy sports, “Doing a league where I was required to pay to enter for league services. No problem paying a league fee towards a pot, which I can win back. But paying money towards a company who would keep it would decrease my gratification greatly.” 

          These final verdicts accordingly tie this entire body of research together with a championship ribbon and do an even increased job of effectively illustrating the dynamics of fantasy sports from a uses and gratifications perspective. As a fantasy sports GM myself, and a commissioner of several ongoing leagues, the cumulative information obtained from this study will go a long way in helping mold future leagues around the values and principles deemed most worthy by the participants in this project. Other leagues should similarly review these and other attributes important to fantasy GMs to best tailor their rules and structures. Additionally, current fantasy sports GMs can compare the findings in this research with their own opinions to better understand the overall culture of fantasy sports. Lastly, rookie fantasy GMs new to the experience can look to this and other resources to get an overview of what fantasy sports are all about, and how they might best fit their own ‘square’ into the greater patchwork quilt.

          As a final observation and conclusion, the preponderance of evidence garnered through my comprehensive literature review, personal survey observations, and direct consumer interviews support the overwhelming consensus of the popularity of online fantasy sports and serves as a contradictory retort to Mick Jagger’s landmark wail of discontent, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.” To the contrary, the hot fudge sundae of numerous previous studies topped with this current research’s sweet, bursting-with-flavor cherry of subjective collective opinion, has shown that fantasy GMS everywhere can and do “get their satisfaction” by way of their continued uses and gratifications of online fantasy sports.

Limitations and Future Research

            Aside from the constraints inherent to every research endeavor; namely, time (“We could always study longer”) and quantity (“We could always obtain more data”), there were two primary limitations specific to this project and both were related to the data selection process. All survey and interview data was compiled from fantasy sports users that were members of “free” leagues that had no entrance fee, dues, or expense associated with their use. As such, and although many of the respondents do in fact compete in other leagues that have entry fees and cash prizes (i.e. fantasy sports version of a type of sports betting/gambling), the majority consensus of the cumulative survey and interview data not surprisingly found that from a fantasy sports perspective, gambling was not at all a significant factor in the overall usage and gratifications of these GMs. Therefore, while the findings of this research stand on their own merit and for their own purpose, they should be viewed through the lens of fantasy sports GMs that are extremely passionate and dedicated, but have also largely exercised and manifested this commitment via other enjoyments and gratifications of free fantasy sports websites rather than from a gambling or economic motive. Future research should look to expand on the separation of these two dynamics at play; online fantasy sports as an interactive gambling medium, much akin to online sports betting or poker playing where the user has an active factor in the outcome of the wager, and intense committed participation by avid fans that prefer to compete without risk, pressure, or whatever their reason. Additional studies could look to compare and contrast the separate studies’ findings for further insight.

            The second major limitation the selection process resulted in was that the source of data for this project came wholly from online fantasy baseball GMs, and was accordingly stated in the introduction. As the focus of the survey and interview data was restricted to online fantasy baseball, and a greater majority of the literature review was devoted as well to this category compared to other fantasy sports, while arguably of use as a representational sampling for all fantasy sports, certainly the results here need to be considered in light of the data limitations. Future research into potential differences in not only Uses and Gratifications, but also any other aspects of fantasy sports, could and should compare the various fantasy sports to determine if there are noticeable trends in any specific area. Furthermore, prospective new research might want to look at Uses and Gratifications across all fantasy sports to compare to this project as well as other more detailed areas of focus.

             A third factor to consider, though less a limitation in this researcher’s opinion and more of a benefit, is again related to the source of data for this research. The survey revealed 90% of respondents as defining themselves as having an either “medium-high” or “high” fantasy sports consumption level. This would slant these findings from the perception of predominantly well-experienced fantasy GMs and all discoveries should be viewed accordingly. However, it should also be noted that unless one is specifically examining solely a casual spotlight of any research subject, that more often than not, the best information will almost always be obtained from experienced participants rather than from occasional toe-dippers.

            Finally, the only other limitation I encountered was in correlating all the literature review and deciding on what constitutes the elusive concepts of “Uses” and “Gratifications.” Numerous studies noted in this project have indicated all sorts of attitudes associated with “uses” and various feelings attributed to different “gratifications.” Laying all the patchwork quilts of previous definitions on top of each other like an overlaying hologram matrix of terms, codes, and inferences was a challenging, but necessary endeavor to ensure conducive survey and interview coding as well as effective research presentation.

          Forthcoming investigations would do well to continually fine-tune the coding categories specific to fantasy sports as new data reveal potential changes in consumer uses and gratifications and new users enter into the fantasy sports landscape. Future examinations into this subject matter and related concerns would similarly be well served by carrying on along this path of discovery and, as the information is analyzed and the methods are enhanced, they should only complement and improve upon ventures such as this one.