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8/3/2019 Interactive Technology in Sports
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Secondary Technology
Influences
Giorgio VarlaroSPMG 60000
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their ability to select professional players based on their statistical stature. Fantasy sports became
what we know it as today with the advent of the Internet. The Internet allowed users to enjoy
their favorite sports away from the stadium and arena thanks to streamlined statistical
calculations, real-time information and enhanced social interactive features (Drayer et al., 2010).
Farquhar and Meeds (2007) describe fantasy sports as:
A league made up of a dozen or so participants who compete against each other
based on statistics from real-world competitors. Fantasy leagues normally begin
with a draft of some sort, where owners either select their players or are randomly
assigned players. During a sports season, points are generated for each of the
participants teams based on real-world performances of the owners players. In
fantasy football, for example, teams usually compete based on categories such as
touchdowns, yards gained, and turnovers (p. 1208).
With the advent of the Internet, more than 29 million Americans and Canadians
participated in some kind of fantasy league last year (Drayer, et al., 2010). This allowed
participants to build a deeper knowledge and track more statistics to give a real-life
understanding of how the game works (Davis & Duncan, 2006).
Message boards, unlike fantasy sports, arrived to sport fans in the later 1980s and early
1990s with the growing presence of the Internet. The growth of the Internet yielded message
boards, blogs, vlogs and other interactive technologies to various populations of users who
consumed sport communication (Clavio, 2008). Message boards represent a unique type of sport
communication, it allows sport fans from different geographic regions to converse and talk about
their favorite teams and players (End, 2001). Furthermore, message boards allow users to be both
creators and consumers of content, thus creating a different type of information not received by
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newspapers, magazines, television and radio (Clavio, 2008). An example of this can be seen
during the NFL Draft when sport consumers go to specific Web sites to communicate with other
common fans about who the team should pick. From here, these sport fans can choose to stay
online and agree or disagree with the teams draft choices with other users. This is a form of
socialization because these sport consumers desire to develop and maintain human relationships
through the Internet by sharing experience and knowledge with others who have similar interests
(Hur, Ko & Valacich, 2007). Hur et al. (2007) also states that:
Online customers use the Internet to develop social relationships because it
provides consumers with various communication tools. When using the Internet
for socialization, online consumers gain a sense of a pseudocommunity in which
they can exchange feedback on products or enjoy social interaction with other
users. For example, avid sports fans enjoy sharing their opinions regarding team
performance and recruiting players with others in a fan site offered by the NFL
(p. 525).
Message boards have become increasingly popular with certain networks (college
message boards) seeing over 70 million online users in a single day (Clavio, 2008). Message
boards represent a unique type of sport communication because it can be used for both sport and
other types of interaction (Clavio, 2008) Because of its unique abilities, message boards deepen
relationships between sport fans and creates motivation for consumption (Oats, 2009).
With some background information revealed on fantasy sports and message boards, an
examination of these two interactive technologies and their influence needs to be examined to
see if these two outlets change consumption habits.
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Fans have a unique relationship with teams and athletes where specific alliances are
formed that influence future consumption decisions (Drayer et al., 2010). Because of this, and
the explosion of the Internet, sport consumers are forming stronger attachments than ever before.
Examples of this can be seen through fantasy sports where research by Farquhar and Meeds
(2007) has revealed five types of fantasy player: casual players, skilled players, isolated thrill
seekers, trash talkers and formatives.
Casual players were fantasy members who averaged 3.31 years of participation, spent
around $0-$20 annually and devoted one to two hours per week in fantasy sports (Farquhar &
Meeds, 2007). Furthermore, casual players most common motivation for playing was
surveillance. Surveillance was described as information gathering, working with statistics and
staying in touch with real-world sports (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007). A statement from a casual
player suggests that fantasy sports have made their interest in real-world sports grow, even
though they dont spend any money or excessive time doing it (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007, p.
1217).
Skilled players were fantasy members who averaged 4.5 years of participation, spent $12-
$50 annually and devoted four to five hours per week in fantasy sports (Farquhar & Meeds,
2007). Skilled players were highly involved in fantasy sports, and they appeared to get more out
of fantasy sports when they put in more time and money (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007). Their main
motivations were regard and involvement. Regard referred to the measurement of attitude by the
fantasy sport user and involvement referred to time and money spent (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007).
Isolated thrill seekers were fantasy members that averaged more than five years of
participation, spent on average $0-$20 annually and devoted one to two hours per week on their
fantasy (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007). Isolated thrill seekers main motivation was escape, which
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was described as a users mentality to get away from daily rituals such as work, school or any
other environment (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007).
Trash talkers were fantasy members who averaged nearly 3.5 years of participation,
consumed one to two hours per week on their fantasy and spent $0-$20 annually (which was the
lowest sports expenditure bracket). Trash talkers had high regard for their participation in fantasy
sports, but were mainly motivated by arousal. Arousal was described as participating for the
thrill of victory, which needed to be pursued with the thought of the next victory being just
around the corner (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007). As stated by a trash talker in Farquhar and Meeds
(2007) study:
I have a lot of fun sitting around trash talking after a good week and I only play
free games. It really helps me pay attention to real-world sports so I can succeed
in the fantasy game (p. 1221).
Formatives, the last mentioned group, were fantasy players who averaged two years of
participation, spent $20-$30 annually and averaged two to three hours per week on fantasy sports
(Farquhar & Meeds, 2007).Their two strongest motivations were surveillance and arousal.
Formatives enjoyed the information and statistics that drive the scoring in fantasy sports as well
as the thrill of victory (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007). However, formatives were contradictive in
their analysis of fantasy sports, suggesting that it was harmless but also potentially addictive in
nature (Farquhar & Meeds, 2007, p. 1223). Because of their consistent contradictions, these
fantasy users were labeled as formatives.
Since sport consumers are attaining specific roles within interactive media, it provides
valuable evidence that fantasy sport creates motivation from its users (motivation is essential for
consumption to increase). It should also be noted that these motivations are different from the
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four primary online consumption motivations described by Hur et al. (2007) which were
researching, communicating, surfing and shopping. Sport consumers main motivations for online
use are convenience, information, diversion, socialization and economic motive (Hur et al.,
2007). Convenience refers to sport consumers motivation to purchase a desired product and
obtain sports information in a convenient way, regardless of place and time (Hur et al., 2007).
Information refers to sport consumers motivation to gain sport-related knowledge through the
Internet (sports consumers have a need to gain up-to-date information regarding sport teams,
players, products, and current trends of sport business). Diversion refers to sport consumers
desire to escape day-to-day boredom and stress, thus seeking pleasure, fun, or enjoyment via the
Internet (Hur et al., 2007). Socialization refers to sport consumers desire to develop and
maintain human relationships through the Internet by sharing experiences and knowledge with
others who have similar interests (Hur et al., 2007). And economic motive refers to sport
consumers desire to save or make money, bargain efficiently, and obtain free products via the
Internet (examples of rewards which were given out for winning a fantasy league on ESPN.com
include a trip to Hawaii for the NFL Prow Bowl, a big screen TV, and video games from
Electronic Arts) (Oats, 2009). These motivations suggest that the Internets interactivity and
personalization, which are inherently different from traditional print and broadcast media, help
sport consumers move from light media consumption to much heavier media consumption
(Farquhar & Meeds, 2007).
Hur et al. (2007) also suggest that sport consumers use the Internet to visit sports related
Web sites not only to purchase sports products, but also to obtain sports related information and
enjoyment (p. 522). This coincides with other research previously stated suggesting that sports
consumption comes on behalf of motivation for knowledge, social interaction, escape and
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economic motive, which reinforces Drayer et al. (2010) finding that fantasy football participation
helped create new avenues of consumption. Furthermore, Prescott (2007) found out through a
survey that that 55% of fantasy users said that they watch more sports on TV because of their
involvement in fantasy leagues, and they are much more likely to go to professional sports games
than the average American (Prescott, 2006, p. 1). This resulted in the NFL having its best brand-
building tool within the last five years (fantasy sports). Fans around the world were watching the
NFL more intently than ever (Drayer et al., 2010). This clearly shows that the fantasy sports
player that is highly involved in this leisure activity creates a new type camaraderie never before
seen by researchers (Prescott, 2006).
Another type of instrument used to measure the motives of sport consumers is the
Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC), which assesses nine motives: achievement,
acquisition of knowledge, aesthetics, drama/eustress, escape, family, physical attractiveness of
participants, the quality of the physical skill of the participants, and social interaction (James &
Ridinger, 2002, p. 262). Because of this instrument, it allowed researches to examine similarities
and difference between male and female sports fans. A result of this test indicated that males and
females were equally likely to report being sports fans, even though men spent more time
discussing sports, watching it on television, and possessed more knowledge (James & Ridinger,
2002). Also, the study suggested that females seemed more likely to be a sports fan for social
reasons, which included attending games and enjoying the ability to cheer and watch the
spectacle with friends and family (James & Ridinger, 2002). From these findings, we can assume
that there are significant differences to which males and females think of themselves as sport
fans. This however does not inhibit either from consuming sport at a lower level. If anything, it
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suggests that womens participation in sport is rising, thus sport consumption from interactive
media is also.
Fantasy sports have allowed contemporary sport fans a variety of consumption
opportunities that have not previously existed. Thus far, positive associations of consumption
habits have been remitted. For a thorough investigation of fantasy sports, its indicative to look at
the negative aspects associated with this interactive media.
Despite the significant increase in media consumption, for a vast majority of users, the
involvement of fantasy sports did not affect consumption of NFL related products (Drayer et al.,
2010). This relates to the buying of licensed football jerseys, licensed helmets, licensed jackets,
licensed hats, and other memorabilia sold in the NFL market. Fantasy sports also had a negative
impact on NFL game attendance. Where the league is seeing record-breaking television rates and
shares, attendance is down and blackouts are increasing (In 2005, the NFL reported 17 million
fans attended games, while their television viewing audience was over 25 million) (Drayer et al.,
2010). There was a recent study done by Nesbit and King (2010) which found fantasy sports to
increase game attendance, but consistency wasnt a strong point within the research. It was
suggested that future studies are clearly needed to quantify the monetary impact of fantasy sports
on the NFL (Nesbit & King, 2010). From this statement, you cannot assume that fantasy sports
have increased the attendance of football fans.
Other negatives associated with fantasy sports were the impact the entity had on users
daily lives. Users spent additional time watching football and seeking information on players,
which had a negative impact in important activities in their lives (Drayer et al., 2010).
Contributing to these negative aspects were the most used fantasy Web sites by a sport
consumers; Yahoo! Fantasy, CBSSportsline and ESPN Fantasy (Prescott, 2006). With these Web
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sites offering extensive player analysis, video segments and statistical reports, Web sites are
invoking customer satisfaction, loyalty and behavioral intensions which increase motivation that
leads to increased consumption (Suh & Pedersen, 2010). This makes sport consumers make a
decision between leisure activities or real-life activities, and the consumers are choosing leisure
activities.
The final negative association with fantasy sports is the fact that this interactive media
has become another separate space for men to practice masculinity (Davis & Duncan, 2006). The
top five fantasy sport games are football, baseball, basketball, hockey and automobile racing
(Nesbit & King, 2010). None are female sport related. In Yahoo! Fantasy, one of the highest
used fantasy Web sites, there is no offer of entry into womens fantasy sport leagues (Davis &
Duncan, 2006). Davis and Duncan (2006) state that:
These results demonstrate how fantasy sports are shaped and targeted toward a
male demographic. Similar to the television media and their portrayals of female
athletes, fantasy sport leagues neglect or ignore womens sports (p. 258).
As stated earlier in the research, with the explosion of the Internet, fans are forming
unique relationships with teams and athletes. These relationships create attachment and
motivation for sports consumption (Drayer et al., 2010). A different type of interactive
technology, message boards, unlike fantasy sports, is helping users consume on a greater level
because it creates opportunities for interaction between users across different geographic regions.
As suggested by Oats (2009), New media have begun to compensate for live word-of-mouth
and fans now have unprecedented opportunities to communicate with the sport and each other
technologically (p. 38).
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An example of this can be seen between sports facilities and customers with message
boards creating interaction between the two. From this, sports fans can exchange tickets with the
advent of ticket exchange programs. As Smith, Pent & Pitts (1999) state, Chat rooms (another
form of message board) create an opportunity for interaction between the facility and the
customer or between customers. Ticket exchange, which was also uncommon, allows a visitor to
buy, sell, or trade tickets with other fans (p. 32). Ticket exchange programs became available
with the Internet, thus allowing a customer who buys a ticket or a personal seat license (PSL) the
opportunity to sell their spot to another customer without the sport organizations influence. The
sport organization does not infiltrate this process because the purchase of a ticket was already
made. Sport organizations do not care who sits in the purchased seat, but wants it filled to make
business look like it is prospering. An empty purchased seat is less valuable to a team than a
purchased seat with a fan in it.
Furthermore, message boards allow sport fans to share opinions, trash talk, or otherwise
interact with other fans (Oats, 2009). This deepens the relationships between sport and fans,
which is important since fans are identifying with teams and players. This is good for sport
organizations, however, it blurs the line between fantasy and reality, thus fans see themselves as
part of the team, so they bask in reflected glory (BIRG) after wins and cut off reflected failure
after losses (CORF) (Phua, 2010). From here, fans repeat BIRGing when they go to online
forums, play-by-play commentaries and other readings if their team wins and repeat CORFing
(or stop consuming interactive media) when their teams lose (End, 2001).
What cause these types of reactions from fans, based in theoretical terms, is Social
Identification, Fan Identification, Team Identity and Loyalty. Social Identification is when
individuals choose to view shows that bolster their identification with social groups important to
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them (Phua, 2010). Fan Identification is when sports fans identify strongly with the team they
support, striving to achieve and maintain a positive social identity, which is then achieved
through intergroup differentiation (Phua, 2010). And Team Identity and Loyalty reinforce the
concept that fans have a unique relationship with teams and individual athletes where specific
alliances are formed that influence future consumption decisions (Drayer et al., 2010).
After reading each of these theoretical concepts, it can be surmised that sport fans
identify with sport so they can be accepted by certain groups, thus once sport fans are accepted
by these groups a relationship is formed (or alliance) which cause the fan to have future
consumption habits. Helping to increase this consumption is online media or message boards,
which have the greatest effect on the association between identification and self-esteem (Phua,
2010). Furthermore, Drayer et al. (2010) describes it best by stating:
Team identity and team loyalty have a positive impact on consumer behavior.
Strengthening the relationship between fans and their teams help strengthen team
identity and loyalty. In turn, this may enhance the consumption behavior of fans,
making it important from a financial standpoint for sport franchises to encourage
their fan base to have a strong attachment to the team (p. 130).
Contrary to this, End (2003) found out that individuals who use message boards use a
nickname in order to obscure their actual identity. Due to the anonymity produced by the Web
site, fans are less concerned about self-presentational motives and more likely to express their
actual attitudes towards their team, regardless of whether their feelings are positive or negative
(p. 135). This is an interesting statement in that it posses opposition to the theories provided by
Phua (2010) and Drayer (2010) et al. With these message boards allowing individuals to claim
anonymity, a true alliance cannot be formed between these groups. If true alliances arent formed
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online, then relationships between the fans and their teams do not have the opportunity to grow
stronger, which results in lower assumed consumption behaviors.
Nonetheless, message boards are successful because they allow sport fans the opportunity
to converse with other sport fans, which in return gives them more information about their
favorites teams they cannot get anywhere else (Clavio, 2008). This correlates with one of the
main factors of fantasy sports consumption, the need for up-to-date information. The difference
between fantasy sports and message boards is the way they are consumed. Fantasy sports allow a
fan the closest thing that can be found to buying your own professional franchise and becoming
the teams coach, owner, and president (Oats, 2009, p. 41). All of the decisions are the fans to
make. Each is supplied with all of the tools (multiple draft methods, live box scores, unlimited
waivers, trades and free agency, custom team injury updates, a commissioner, league bulletin
boards, sortable stats for all players, etc.) needed to build the best possible team (Oats, 2009, p.
41). Message boards allow sport fans the opportunity to join social groups were they can then
BIRG or CORF depending on the result of their team that week, which then leads to the posting
of messages and the likelihood of fans to gather information of their favorite teams from other
fans, thus creating a way for the fan to BIRG or CORF (Clavio, 2008).
Negatives associated with message boards, are different than negatives associated with
fantasy sports. Message board consumption diminishes when there is a threat of security or
privacy while online (Hur et al., 2007). Security and privacy is defined as sport consumers
perceived risk of personal information being abused during online consumption (Hur et al.,
2007). Sport fans have the ability, as previously stated, to keep private information anonymous,
but once that information becomes public within a message board, it causes specific users to
leave message boards and cancel the account, which could then cause a negative reaction to
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message boards and lower consumption within that type of media. Examples of this occur when
one user wants to put another user in their place.
The sports industry is the eleventh largest industry in the United States (Smith et al.,
1999). With over 190 total Web sites that have fantasy sports and 45,000 message boards, new
interactive technologies are influencing the way sport fans consume (Prescott, 2006). Because
message boards and fantasy sports provide customer satisfaction, positive attitudes become
prevalent, which result in increased participation (Suh & Pedersen, 2010). Drayer et al., (2010)
states that, Due to technology advances, the contemporary sports fan has a variety of
consumption opportunities that did not previously exist. This enables them to actively engage
with sports products (p. 130). This active engagement with new interactive technology
(message boards and fantasy sports) can be assumed to increase sport fan consumption based on
current trends and behaviors.
References:
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