Fantasy Sports Demographics
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Consumer Profile
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A study conducted by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association in Fall 2008 estimated that 27.1 million Americans participate in fantasy sports.
88% of players say that they use the internet to play fantasy sports and plan to continue playing for the foreseeable future.
75% of American fantasy sports players play fantasy football.
Whereas only 12% of Americans attended a MLB game.
Compared to only 8% of the population attended an NBA game.
TOTAL CONSUMER SPENDING - MARKET SIZE FOR FANTASY SPORTS PROVIDERS - $800M
TOTAL MARKET IMPACT OF FANTASY SPORTS - $4.48 Billion
2008 Ipsos Fantasy Sports Research U.S. | ||
| Fantasy Football | 75% | 20,325,000 |
| Fantasy Baseball | 40% | 10,840,000 |
| Fantasy Racing | 31% | 8,401,000 |
| Fantasy Basketball | 22% | 5,962,000 |
| Fantasy Hockey | 14% | 3,794,000 |
| Fantasy Golf | 13% | 5,523,000 |
| Fantasy College Football | 12% | 3,252,000 |
Total U.S. Market Size: 27,100,000 | ||
New research shows more women playing. Do they really represent 20% to 25% of the entire market?
YES!
Thanks in large part to Fantasy Football, women make up a large percentage of overall fantasy sports players, as high as 25%. This has consistently shown up in the Ipsos research for years.
AND NO!
While they may be playing, on all combined spending categories they are out spent by males at a 4:1 ratio. In some categories, they are outspent by males as much as 10:1. This means that while women are playing fantasy sports, overall, they have far less than a 25% impact on the market. Men make up 90%+ of the Fantasy sports market.
Fantasy players are great for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA and other leagues!
- 55% of fantasy sport players report watching more sports on TV since they started playing fantasy sports
- Fantasy sports players say that playing makes watching professional sports more fun
- Fantasy sports players buy tickets and spend money at stadiums at a much higher rate than general fantasy sports fans:
o 78% of fantasy sport players attended at least once.
o 9% attended an NFL football game (60% of fantasy players)
o 8% attended an NBA basketball game (28% of fantasy players)
o 4% of Americans attended a NHL Hockey game (27% of fantasy sport players)
Fantasy sports have a large amount of economic impact.
- Total consumer spending is estimated at $800M
- Total market impact of roughly $4.48 billion
HISTORICAL (2006 and 2007) - Who plays fantasy sports?
The average fantasy player has these characteristics:
- Spend about 3 to 4 hours online per week
- Has played for 10 years
- Average of 6 leagues from various sports per year
- Spends an average of $467.60 per year playing fantasy sports
- Educated, professionals living in suburban USA
- Majority (55%) started playing offline
- 90% Male
- 68% Married
- Average Age: 37
- 86% Own Their Home
- 71% Have a Bachelor's Degree or Higher
- 92% Attended Some College
- 59% make $50,000 or more annually
- $94K Average Household Income
Fantasy sports help build the community and camaraderie.
- 60% know the other participants in their leagues and they lived within 150 miles of each other.
- 40% say fantasy sport participation increases the camaraderie among employees in their workplace
- 36% say fantasy sports participation is a positive influence in their workplace
- 16% say fantasy sports participation has allowed them to make valuable business contacts
- 30% say they have made friends at work due to fantasy sports
- 51% play in a NCAA tournament bracket contest at their workplace
"The billion-dollar business of fantasy football got another new player Wednesday: Las Vegas oddsmakers... Jeff Thomas, former president of the fantasy sports trade association and founder of SportsBuff.com, said Station's new line is simply another form of gambling... 'I think a lot of businesses are sort of stretching the definition of fantasy lately, trying to capitalize on what's popular,' he said. 'If I'm a smart businessman, whether I own a casino or want to promote my brand, I'd be looking at fantasy sports.'"
From CNN:
"Jeff Thomas, who runs a fantasy operation called SportsBuff.com and president of the FSTA from 2006 to 2009, says the average player spends nearly $500 when you consider league fees, magazines devoted to fantasy sports and pay content on the Web. Thomas said that the revenue from the contest portion of fantasy is about $200 million but that when you figure in the ancillary money, fantasy sports is a $2-billion-a-year machine. The impact on the U.S. economy is 50 to 100 percent more, he said. "Our research shows that people spend more money on tickets, buy more sports merchandise and travel to more games."
From Gaming Industry News:
"The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Major League Baseball and its players association, thereby giving a fantasy sports operator the right to use players' data without paying licensing fees. 'Today's Supreme Court decision marks potentially the single biggest day in the history of the fantasy sports industry,' says Jeffrey Thomas, CEO of World Fantasy Games and President of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association from 2006 to 2009.