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Fantasy Sports Users and their Motivations for Play: A Data Driven Overview

Mon, August 13, 10:30am to 12:10pm, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Floor: Level 4, 412

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative overview of the users of the Fantasy Sports platform based on four cross-sectional, large-scale surveys. Each survey, one per sport, asks the same core set of questions of each user, which facilitates an analysis that spans the four major American sports. The paper begins with descriptive statistics before presenting regression models that look at 1) the relationship between motivations for playing Fantasy Sports on the self-reported likelihood of playing again and 2) overall satisfaction with the experience of participation. Taken together, this paper introduces a new dataset for understanding Fantasy Sport users, frames their participation in an online game within a history of online and in-person play and leisure activities, applies a framework for understanding their motivations, and looks at the relationship between demographic characteristics, motivations for play, overall satisfaction, and self-reported likelihood of playing again. It suggests that there is inter-sport differences that deserves attention from researchers when considering the whole population of Fantasy Sport players, identifies mechanisms for extending weak ties through participation, and proposes questions for further exploration in the study of communities and Fantasy Sports.

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