25.8 million.
1.1 billion.
The first number represents how many people are expected to play fantasy football this year, according to market research firm Ipsos. The second number represents how much revenue those players will generate.
Fantasy football has gone from a clandestine, D&D-style geek-out hobby to a massive mainstream sports business, and it taps into one of the most coveted demographics for marketers: 30-to-40-year-old college-educated males with an average household income of more than $90,000. For the NFL, those players are as engaged as a fan can be with its brand, and sponsors are lining up to invest in that deep connection.
Volkswagen and Snickers now commit up to $3 million in fantasy sponsorships with major fantasy providers ESPN, CBS, the NFL and Yahoo. Other major sponsors include Verizon and Dodge. “They’ve seen the voracious appetite that fans have for any and all things fantasy,” Tom Brady, VP of content for the NFL Media Group, told Ad Age. “That means they’re spending that much time with the NFL, and if a sponsor can be tied to that, all the better.”
Read more about it at Ad Age.
Brief Take: Though its numbers are impressive, sponsors also feel fantasy football is a double-edged sword: Fans engage with the game, not its ads, and marketers have to play into that to break through. Volkswagen, for instance, will present custom video banner ads in the CBS Sports fantasy service, with CBS Sports personalities heckling or praising the gamer.
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