Media Ethnography - Fantasy Sports Teams

I chose to focus my media ethnography on fantasy football leagues, because I know many people who are involved with them, including family members, but I know very little about them. Before I began observing people involved in these leagues, I made a few notes about the preconceived notions I had about them. I had noticed that the members were generally very enthusiastic about their leagues and their individual teams. I also noted that for many of the people I knew, they appeared to be more of a social institution than an athletic one.

One thing I really did NOT know about the leagues was the time, effort, and money people invest in keeping up with them. There seem to be about 3 different "types" of participants: the people who are in it to have fun, the ones who are in it

It turns out that many of my previous observations were supported by my ethnographic observations. I observed participants in two main environments. First, I interviewed people I knew who were involved with fantasy football leagues (even though I began this assignment interested in fantasy teams in general, I ended up only observing football participants) and then I "lurked" in on a few fantasy chat rooms.

The people I spoke to noted that their participation was generally for social reasons. They spoke of the parties and events that surround participation in the leagues. However, people in the chat rooms were involved more for the challenge maintaining their team presents. They were much more interested in talking about statistics, current news about players, and they appeared to take on a more challenging/aggressive tone with others.

It is important to note that the vast majority of people I observed and interviewed were men. The men commented on women that were in their leagues and often spoke of "luck" when women were brought up. So, generally, I interpret one main reason for why people to get involved with fantasy teams is to establish a manly/macho stance. Women typically get involved in order to be seen as "one of the guys." This is not something that they say, but comes from the From what I can tell, women who are involved for reasons other than that keep to themselves and have all women leagues and don't get as caught up in the competition online.

Another reason people seem to get involved is the reward they get out of it - money. I would contend that the "risk" this poses entices many participants. Socially acceptable gambling that can be turned into a social event seems to be attractive to men who otherwise struggle to find social opportunities to get together.