Sports Fans Revolution

By Sports Handicapper Ron Raymond

Date: June 24, 2008

 

Welcome to the “what’s in it for me” sports fan generation!

 

Darwin once stated; “….Natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive variations; she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure, though slow steps.” That’s why you cannot change things with extreme measures, as it’s perceived as a shock to the system. My favorite example is the car, look how the evolution of the Mustang has progressed since the ‘60’s to the Shelby GT 500 of today?

 

In my own opinion, that’s why internet gaming is taking it’s time to be accepted by the masses and the decision makers at the top, as gaming in all forms needs to be socially accepted by a large part of society, but  it’s slowly getting there with the help of the poker, horse racing and fantasy league players.

 

Nortel Networks had a great slogan in the 90’s; “what do you want the internet to be?”

 

The same can be said with today’s sports world, it’s not like your fathers and grand father’s sports world anymore. During those years, nobody talked about salaries and they all had a favorite player and team. Since the evolution of the internet, today’s younger generation of fans want a different interest in sports and that’s why sports betting and fantasy leagues have taken away personal allegiances to sports teams. In today’s sports world, bettors and fantasy players care more about certain teams and players on certain nights. It’s all about “what’s in it for me” on this night, winning my wager or collecting some fantasy points!

 

The evolution of sports business and the way we watch sports is forcing us to make an investment into the sports we are watching and following. When you consider the sports fans are now paying to watch the game that is not in their local market, it’s forcing them to make a decision and an investment. Do you really think the average sports fan wants to pay $400 to $1000 a year on special sports package because it’s a form of entertainment? Perhaps some will, but the majority of the younger and mid generations of sports fans are watching because they have a “special interest” in the game or event they are watching.

 

This is not about following a certain team or player anymore; this is about ones personal interest and outcome of a game. One of those forms of interest is sports betting, like it or hate it, it’s here to stay! The internet has taken away allot of the networks ad dollars away and that’s why you’re seeing the newspaper industry losing money each quarter. In fact, according to a report last week by Bloomberg, “newspaper advertising has now dropped eight straight quarters… The dollar volume fell to $8.43 billion, which sounds like a lot of advertising—until it is divided among all the nation’s local, regional and national papers.”  Other reports suggest they haven’t seen such a decline since the early 80’s, which means the internet is playing a bigger role in all aspects and since the ad dollars aren’t picking up the tab anymore, it’s going to force the consumer to pay for their “on demand” entertainment, such as “sports watching”.

 

Which brings the question, when will the new “sports fan revolution” take place? If I’m going to spend $400 to $1000 on sports packages and pay per view events, it has to be looked at in some form of an investment like one does in the stock market. Sports bettors or Fantasy league players, who invest in these sports package, want their piece of the pie in some way, so they can get their Return on Investment back! Players leave teams, they don’t care about you or the team; they care about the financial gains that will provide for their own personal growth. When the average sports fans realize it’s not about following a team or a player and more about satisfying your own needs, then the sports fans revolution will start to take place. When a player is a free agent or gets traded, do you really think they are taking the fans into consideration? Of course not, it’s about their own interest, just like bettors and fantasy sports fans look after their own interest when watching a game.

 

What can we expect in the future from our sports radio and TV stations? I see stations like ESPN, Fox Sports getting less popular, as the Sportscenter type shows will not match the newer shows who treat their shows like a stock market report, with a fantasy sports and betting angle incorporated. Instead of talking about last night’s game, look for sports handicappers and regular bettors playing a bigger role and hyping up the nightly games with gaming tips to help their own personal interest of the night. Plus, the whole sports media is turning everything into a “on-demand” world, so get ready to pay for listening to your favorite radio station and TV station within the next 7 to 10 years. Again, you can’t shock the “system” by making drastic changes, that’s why everything is done with baby steps, or else you will have a negative revolt from those who don’t want to pay or accept the new world order in sports.

 

There’s a new breed of sports fans out there today and they don’t care about who wins or lose, just as long as they cover the spread baby! Get ready to join the new sports fans revolution and like the slogan goes; “What do you want your sports to be?”