America’s pastime, baseball, was first played in 1876. After that point in American sports history, Americans have seen the creation of nationally acclaimed sports such as football in 1869 and basketball in 1891. But in today’s day age there is a new sports phenomenon which has particularly struck a chord with Generation Y. Fantasy sports have risen as a premier form of entertainment for sports fans wishing to take their fanaticism to the next level.
Fantasy sports are the combination of extensive statistic collecting alongside the hyper-competitive culture that has become a staple of Generation Y. Fantasy players spend hours upon hours researching players to draft for their leagues and fantasy players need to spend at least 10 hours a week for a chance to win championships and virtual trophies. Over 33.5 million Americans participated in at least one fantasy league in 2013, which is roughly 10 percent of the entire U.S. population, according to the Fantasy Sports Trading Association (FSTA). Fantasy sports serve as perfect sources of active entertainment for college students who look to exert some sports knowledge and compete with others.
It’s that intensity that draws in sports fans to take part in fantasy. Freshman film and media arts major Micaela Figueroa is currently in a relationship with someone in the middle of their fantasy baseball season.
“He spends a significant amount of time on fantasy and is dedicated to knowing facts about any player he can,” Figueroa said. “Sure, whenever we are together he gets constant fantasy updates on his phone, but I’m totally fine with it because I knew beforehand that he and fantasy are a package deal.”
But not everyone is buying into the hype. Freshman communications major Leila Marie argues the opposite.
“I mean, it is sort of helpful in terms of management skills I guess. But people get way too competitive for something with so much luck involved,” Marie said.
Opposition to fantasy is nothing new for the industry. Fantasy sports found national criticism this past football season when Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice received death threats after a poor performance. The Ray Rice incident is nothing new for our generation of fans who have been known to cross the line with other incidents like court storming after college basketball games.
However, while Generation Y has led to more tension between fans and players, our generation has become one of less tension between members within the fantasy community. One particular gain that Generation Y has proven is that now women have become an almost regular part of the game, whereas before, women fantasy players were hard to come by.
In fact, women make up a significant 20 percent of fantasy participants now, according to the data recorded by FSTA. When she isn’t studying, freshman marine biology major Courtney Mastrogiovanni is an avid fantasy sports fanatic.
“Fantasy sports are definitely not as male dominated as they used to be. I know a lot of girls who fill out March Madness brackets and do fantasy leagues ranging from hockey to NASCAR,” Mastrogiovanni said. “It’s great to beat a guy who underestimates girl players and we can be just as sports savvy as the guys.”
We are a generation of winning. We have taken the casual gentlemen’s game of fantasy football and turned it into this multimillion industry filled with daily leagues and purchasable draft kits. With 10 percent of the U.S. participating in fantasy, FSTA reports that sales related to fantasy sports, such as Insider subscriptions and league entry fees has created an industry which tops $3 billion annually.
FSTA also reports that 20 percent of our generation of youth play fantasy sports, and it is particularly popular on UT’s campus. For those of you on the fence about fantasy sports, you should believe the hype and at least try a league before casting the idea out. We are a generation of insane fans and fantasy fanatics of all kinds. A generation of a new brand of entertainment which seems hard to believe. A generation of fantasy.
Marcus Mitchell can be reached at marcus.mitchell@spartans.ut.edu.