A new event is starting in Mr. Hutchins’ Sports Marketing Class for the upcoming fantasy football season, where his students will participate in their own league.

A wide variety of sports are enjoyed in the US, but football seems to stand out above the rest. According to Gallup.com, 37% of U.S. adults picked football as their favorite sport to watch. Football has been the favorite since 1972. Why is that? “Football is something that everyone at least knows about.”, says Josh Mowles (11), “I think it’s marketed really well and there are a lot of ways to be involved in it too.”. One of the ways people can participate is through something called Fantasy Football. Fantasy Football is a game where actual players are picked by the people who play in the league, and they get points based on the performances of the NFL players.

At Hidden Valley, we have our own fantasy football league. In Mr. Hutchins’ Sports Marketing Class, they run their very own league, and the result is an engaging, fun way to explore how major sports leagues are marketed to the public. Fantasy football markets the NFL by significantly boosting fan engagement, turning casual viewers into deeply invested participants who follow individual players and statistics, and not just pay attention to their favorite teams. This increased engagement drives higher viewership, attendance, and merchandise sales, creating new revenue streams for the league. It also aids viewer retention by making people follow on a week-by-week basis. There is a huge spot in social media for fantasy football as well, leading to even more media coverage. “I mean, football is probably one of the most popular American sports, and they have a huge advertising budget,” said Mrs. Stevens (Tech Ed. Teacher), “They have strict brand guidelines and maintain the quality of products with their logo”. This brings up the good point, the NFL also has a lot of quality products for its very devoted fanbase.

The NFL has standing TV deals with the major channels, like ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS, but they also recently started to give streaming services the right to show the games, and this is a great method of spreading the sport and covering different types of people. This introduces the game to people who don’t necessarily have cable or who have never shown interest in the game. The streaming service deal enables a wider coverage and a wider base of fans.

The widespread popularity of the NFL can be chalked up to great marketing and a very loyal fanbase. Fantasy football is a game enjoyed by many and known by more.