In this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, Peter King writes a very good piece on how the NFL lockout seems like such a distant memory. It's entitled "From Lockout To Love-In: Remember how the labor stalemate was going to drive fans from the NFL?"
He lists three reasons why the NFL has rebounded so well. They include Star power (superstars like Tim Tebow emerging to grab the attention of fans), fantasy football...and women, and A Forgiving media. Here's what he says about fantasy football...and women:
"Fantasy football...and women: At Thanksgiving I sat with my family and some friends of my daughter's in San Francisco. In my youth, at my house, the TV was turned off at dinner; the women had no interest in Thanksgiving football. But this year the set never went dark. Five of these six women were following fantasy teams, and during blessings one of them thanked God fr Thursday-night football. I can't put a number on it, but I know that the interest from females in what I write and say and tweet is up dramatically.
"Adweek estimates that 27 million Americans play fantasy football, and another study has 5.4 million of them as women. Fantasy is a gateway to following football on TV and the Internet. By the time fantasy leagues drafted this summer, a good month after the lockout ended, it was clear that the labor dispute hadn't dampened excitement for the season."
Well done Peter King. I couldn't agree with you more. The NFL knows all too well right now how fantasy football is leading the interest in the NFL, is pushing TV viewership to new heights, is propelling the growth of online traffic for everything NFL, and is bringing more women to the sport.
Peter King's Comment on Fantasy Football
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Greg Ambrosius
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Peter King's Comment on Fantasy Football
Founder, National Fantasy Football Championship & National Fantasy Baseball Championship
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
Twitter: @GregAmbrosius
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Frozen Tundra
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Peter King's Comment on Fantasy Football
No brainer. I dont know what pct of that $10 bln revenue comes from ff, but I bet it is a lot. I would say its way more than jersey sales.
Before ff I followed my Packers for 3 hrs a week. Now I follow Pack and 31 other teams for a lot more time. I say this applies to a lot of us.
Ff made possible TNF (who on earth would be watching Yates vs Orlovsky if not for Foster) and Tuesday Wednesday Friday and Saturday night football are not that far fetched ideas.
Welcome to NFL around the clock.
Before ff I followed my Packers for 3 hrs a week. Now I follow Pack and 31 other teams for a lot more time. I say this applies to a lot of us.
Ff made possible TNF (who on earth would be watching Yates vs Orlovsky if not for Foster) and Tuesday Wednesday Friday and Saturday night football are not that far fetched ideas.
Welcome to NFL around the clock.