Branches Book

BRANCHES

As displayed in the bar graph, watching football and the competition aspect of fantasy football were the two most selected factors. Watching football combined with competition covered 80% of the data. What I drew from this is that fantasy football can enhance the experience of being a sports fan. Games can be more fun to watch when there is something more personal at stake than team pride, especially if your handpicked team ends up being the best. The final question that I asked in order to provide direct evidence to how addictive fantasy football was how much time each individual surveyed spends a week focusing on fantasy football during the football year. It was definitely shocking to see that almost half of the people surveyed selected 9+ hours as the amount of time they spend during the football season, yet it is believable when you factor in the hours of watching football. Essentially during the year, there is never really a day during the week where nothing is happening in a fantasy football league. There are games on Mondays, Thursdays, and Sundays and in between, owners focus on setting their lineups and picking up free agents (other players in the NFL who are not currently on any fantasy teams) if players are hurt or if a superstar miraculously arises. In turn, 9+ hours sounds reasonable, as Sunday’s span from 9-5 with multiple NFL football games.

Here’s the thing: I may never be proud of my devotion to fantasy football but I definitely love it and it’s something that generates happiness in my life. Draft day, the day when everyone in the league gathers together and forms a draft conference, where we draft our players, is like Christmas. For me, it’s the most wonderful time of the year and during the offseason I am always anticipating it. Fantasy football is an art. It is much more meaningful than simply owning a fantastical sports team. The magnitude and agony of defeat is inevitable and beating your closest friends generates a satisfaction

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