Prospects of fantasy sports as a profitable sport marketing media

Abstract

One hundred-filly sport Web sites (75 offering fantasy sports (FS) and 75 not offering fantasy sports (NFS)) were asked to complete an 18-question on-line survey to determine the impact that hosting fantasy sports had on the total profit generated by sport Web sites. Of the 150 sport Web sites contacted, 34 (22.7%) completed the survey instrument. The results revealed that both FS and NFS Groups were operating more than three years, had common marketing strategies and generated significant revenue, despite not considering "generating revenue" as their most important goal. Both groups differed on revenue models used and pricing models used for banner advertisements. Pearson Product- Moment correlation revealed that the amount of money spent by FS Group was significantly correlated to the amount of revenue generated (r = .907), whereas NFS Group only showed little, if any correlation between these variables (r = .044). ANOVA revealed that both groups also differed significantly on revenue generated (p = .025) and profit obtained (p = .026), regardless of having no significant difference in money spent p = .365). FS Group revealed trends of having a small base of memberships mostly subscribing for free, and offering 1 or 2 fantasy sports with football, baseball, and basketball as the most common. Even though Spearman rank correlation indicated a low correlation between profit obtained and amount of fantasy sports offered (r, = .027), FS Group has planned to expand their offerings and services by adding fantasy sports and providing on-line statistical data. These results suggest that sport Web sites have recognized fantasy sports as a profitable sports marketing media, but have not yet found appropriate marketing approaches to filly take advantage of its potential.