Fantasy Sports as Personalized, Competitive, and Contested Fandom

• In Event: 4354 - Sociology of Sport: Identities, Interactions, and Institutions

Abstract

In this paper, we use data primarily collected from 396 self-identified current or former fantasy sports players to explain how fantasy sports offer a complex and contested version of sport fandom—one which blends elements of traditional fandom with a new, more individualized and less passive form that gives the feeling of some modicum of control and accomplishment to its participants but which also alters rooting interests and sports consumption. We explain how these processes and related ones, such as roster decisions, are deeply gendered, offering readers insights into fantasy sports as a masculine domain and gender project.

Authors

• Rebecca Joyce Kissane, Lafayette College

• Sarah E. Winslow, Clemson University