Denuo - denuology.com

After being presented with the opportunity to take a trip to Las Vegas to talk with fantasy sports experts, I realized life can truly be too good at times. I had no idea this “fantasy” trip would also give me insight into the future of fantasy sports. Those same experts showed me that the industry 27 million consumers spend countless hours enjoying is preparing to go into many interesting directions in the future. Because of this fact, I recommend marketers get in the game (poor pun intended) sooner than later.

I had the pleasure of speaking at Fantasy Sports Trade Association’s 2010 Winter Business Conference last week. For those not familiar, the FSTA provides a forum for interaction between the hundreds of existing and emerging companies across the fantasy sports industry. My specific discussion revolved around the opportunity for advertising in the fantasy sports industry but the true insight for advertisers came from the many conversations held following the panel.

In an effort to focus on the key learnings while not revealing highly confidential information shared, I want to share three general areas where fantasy sports are headed that will matter to marketers much sooner than later.

FANTASY GOES CASUAL

Similar to what has happened in the gaming space over the past few years, fantasy sports are looking to the appeal of a more casual consumer to drive growth and business results. Many of those present at the conference talked about the opportunity to reach the non-hardcore fantasy player through simplifying game features, removing the amount of research needed to participate, and eliminating the frequent updates. All of these things don’t appeal to those mulling over stats to set fantasy NBA rosters every day. However, for the fan turned off by the significant learning curve, it could be that push needed to take the pool of players from 27 million to 50 million in a short amount of time.

FANTASY GOES HARDCORE

While many are looking to go for a broader audience, some of the more innovative players in the fantasy sports industry are looking to provide a deeper experience to the hardcore fans based on the most addictive aspects of the game. Currently they are exploring premium pricing models to bring these features to life, but there is obviously an advertising opportunity to bring these to fantasy leagues and players. While the numbers won’t quite be impressive as a reach mechanism, the level of engagement with the core players will definitely be desirable to many marketers.

FANTASY COMES TO YOUR LIVING ROOM

This is actually more of a reactionary trend thanks to the success of the new television show, The League. As media sees the opportunity within fantasy sports, many companies are developing new ways to bring fantasy directly to the living room and its devices. In the near future, fantasy sports will not be limited to your browser on the laptop. With the introduction to the living room, advertising opportunities only become more attractive.

If one of these (or all three) takes off, there are exciting changes coming to fantasy sports that will ultimately extend the engagement and reach of this fast growing industry. It will no longer only be a favorite past time reserved for Tuesday morning water cooler conversations. There are actually no limits to the changes that the industry could undergo. However the one thing that won’t change is the opportunity for me to continue losing future fantasy pools against fellow Denuologists.