NFL orders clubs: Show fantasy stats at stadiums this year

[TriplecHamp]

in after people missed the sarcasm in my parody post.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I really don't understand the hate for Fantasy Football. It is nothing but good for the game, as an example I will use my work league. We have 12 'owners' in our league, I would say MAYBE 5 of them (myself included) are huge NFL and team specific fans. The rest? Probably could not tell you who Devin McCourty or Darrelle Revis are, let alone the teams they play for...

This makes them watch the games, generate hits on NFL specific sites and generally pay attention to the NFL. If the NFL makes more money from people that generally would not pay attention...then good for them, AND FOR US as true fans. It helps support NFL radio chatter, NFL Network, NFL sites, Magazines, Commercials, etc..without increasing fanbase, therefore revenue....the NFL would not gain anything and possibly lose teams, fanbase, etc.

Keep your thoughts about Fantasy Football to yourselves if you hate it, don't play and don't worry about it, in the end it is HELPING the NFL.

It makes them cater to the fair weather fans, it makes them change the rules to favor offense, if they're making more money that means they can charge more money. I don't know who you think you are telling people on a messageboard to keep their opinions to themselves on a particular subject.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I don't have an irrational hate of it. I have a rational one.

Primarily because I watch a lot of games in a football party-setting and the last ******* thing i want to hear about is whether or not that latest score for the San Fran game might mean that Frank Gore got a touch down which means you need Drew Brees to get 2 TDs on the MNF game at least.

Conversation about a made up team that exists only in your head and doesn't involve anyone else gets old really, really fast when I am trying to watch the goddamn game.

Sure if you play and talk about it during a commercial, halftime or post-game show I got no problems with that cause I'm not a jerk but seriously shut up about Fantasy Football when the game is on.

Agreed, I have to continually tell certain people that there is absolutely nothing in the world that I give less of a **** about than their stupid FF team, I mean they tell me like they really think I care. And then there is always the jack ass who proclaims after the Patriots lose to the Jets "Well at least Santonio Holmes had a good day for my fantasy team." Morons.

 

[ausbacker]

I've used Fantasy Football as a great recruiter for people to begin following the NFL & the Patriots.

Seems to be a hit with most given most of these people play Premier League & AFL Fantasy games, so they understand the concept.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Every year I vow I'm not playing fantasy football but end up filling in for someone in a league.

I hate it in that it makes me care about something other than just the game itself.

On the flip side, I appreciate that it'll get me to watch a Rams-Cardinals game that I otherwise wouldn't. It does provide some entertainment.

Fantasy football is like anything - probably OK in moderation.

That's pretty much why I play fantasy sports in general. It gives me more reason to care about games that have nothing to do with the Patriots.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

fantasy football is so goddamn stupid, its ruining the game. You aren't a real football fan if you play that crap.

So i am a fake fan if i play FF?

LOL

 

[BradyFTW!]

The league loves ff because it gives people a "rooting" interest in a ton of different games. So I can see why they'd want to promote it in the stadiums on gameday (and make no mistake, this is a PROMOTIONAL mandate, to make those who don't play fantasy feel like they're missing out on something important.)

Personally I don't play, in large part because I don't want to be in the position of so many fans I hear saying things like "sorry, gotta root for the Jets this week because I'm starting Holmes." I like my fandom pure. Nothing against ff in principle, though, sounds like fun.

I hate that too, but it's up to everyone to prioritize in their own way. Personally, if my fantasy team and the Pats have conflicting interests, then there's no compromise to be made. The Pats come first, end of story. I've seen people struggle with that conflict before, and I don't get it, because IMO there shouldn't be a conflict. So just based on my own experience, I think it's plenty possible to play without compromising your Patriots fan-dom at all.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I don't have an irrational hate of it. I have a rational one.

Primarily because I watch a lot of games in a football party-setting and the last ******* thing i want to hear about is whether or not that latest score for the San Fran game might mean that Frank Gore got a touch down which means you need Drew Brees to get 2 TDs on the MNF game at least.

Conversation about a made up team that exists only in your head and doesn't involve anyone else gets old really, really fast when I am trying to watch the goddamn game.

Sure if you play and talk about it during a commercial, halftime or post-game show I got no problems with that cause I'm not a jerk but seriously shut up about Fantasy Football when the game is on.

If someone's talking about their fantasy team during the game you should just throw stuff at them until they shut up, IMO. It's supposed to be common courtesy to understand that nobody else cares about your FF team, always annoying when people forget that.

 

[patchick]

FWIW, it's allegedly the opposite: they're afraid that by not showing FF stats at games, FF players won't come to watch the games.

Wow, really? Is that just after-the-fact speculation about the motives behind it? Because I'd think that anybody that obsessed with constant updates on their ff team would just bring a smartphone to the stadium.

 

[Disco Volante]

If any of you have ever said anything close to "I still want the Patriots to win of course, but I hope Santonio Holmes has a huge game against us!", hand in your fan badge and pick up your "fantasy football player with a casual rooting interest in the Patriots" badge.

 

[patchick]

If any of you have ever said anything close to "I still want the Patriots to win of course, but I hope Santonio Holmes has a huge game against us!", hand in your fan badge and pick up your "fantasy football player with a casual rooting interest in the Patriots" badge.

To be fair, I feel the same way about gambling on Pats games. I don't ever want to be unhappy after a Patriots win because they failed to beat the spread.

 

[Disco Volante]

To be fair, I feel the same way about gambling on Pats games. I don't ever want to be unhappy after a Patriots win because they failed to beat the spread.

I wouldn't equate that to fantasy, as everything your rooting for is still pro-Patriots.

Things get questionable when people can take joy in seeing Santonio Holmes catch a 60 yard TD pass against the Patriots because it helped their fantasy team.

 

[alamo]

And also claim that people who play it somehow aren't real football fans.

NFL's criteria is based entirely on the currency used to try to pay for their tickets.

Real football fan:

Not a real football fan:

 

[TheSolderKing]

this is a JOKE

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Things get questionable when people can take joy in seeing Santonio Holmes catch a 60 yard TD pass against the Patriots because it helped their fantasy team.

There's a very simple fix for this. Don't draft anyone from the New Jersey JEST! I've used this formula for 3 years, so far with great success. :cool3:

The one thing I'll say about FF is that, to play it well, you really do get to know individual players from other teams; teams that, in my pre-FF days, I never paid much or any attention to. This year my 11 year old son and I drafted a team together - our only disagreement was when he drafted the Ravens D over the Pats (he really likes Ray Lewis) - which I'm thinking will just increase his interest in the "real" game.

 

[Froob]

I play it but I don't really care that much. I don't think I could ever watch the redzone channel. Why watch a bunch of pointless touchdowns over an actual game? Not ragging on anybody who does here everyone has different taste.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

There's a very simple fix for this. Don't draft anyone from the New Jersey JEST! I've used this formula for 3 years, so far with great success. :cool3:

The one thing I'll say about FF is that, to play it well, you really do get to know individual players from other teams; teams that, in my pre-FF days, I never paid much or any attention to. This year my 11 year old son and I drafted a team together - our only disagreement was when he drafted the Ravens D over the Pats (he really likes Ray Lewis) - which I'm thinking will just increase his interest in the "real" game.

I've used this formula as well and really, it doesn't hurt my rooting interest or fantasy scores at all.

I remember being at a game at Gillette in 07 and with each play an opposing player (Braylon Edwards?) made, some drunk fool would shout "fantasy points!" I wanted to push him over the edge but refrained as I had tickets for a game a few weeks later and really wanted to go!

I restrict fantasy football discussions to those in my league. It seems to be the best way to keep non fantasy players happy and honestly, it is just polite.

As for the nfl's edict, what is the point? most people have smatphones and can get their info readily. A waste of time to even put 10 seconds of thought into this in the NFL offices.

 

[tobias funke]

Fantasy Football is a great addition to the game of football.

- It pushes you to learn more about the game: the positions guys play, what makes them good, what factors into the success of a given player/team (scheme/injuries/opponents), and obviously the rosters of other teams.

- It gives you a possible rooting interest for games that you might not necessarily be as interested in/focused on. I'm not saying I need this to be able to watch a given game, but I don't know if I would have gained the appreciation for nearly any two decent teams competing that I have now without fantasy football.

- I don't find it hard to compartmentalize my rooting interests team-wise vs. fantasy-wise at all. Maybe it's because I'm not a gambler, so I never put a great deal of money into fantasy (my view of a ~$20 entry fee isn't that I'm gambling, but that I'm investing in everyone staying interested in the league until it's over, instead of forgetting to set a lineup half the time because who cares, it's free!). I doubt it, though. At the end of the day, football doesn't really mean any more to my life than fantasy does, because they're both forms of entertainment.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I've used this formula as well and really, it doesn't hurt my rooting interest or fantasy scores at all.

I remember being at a game at Gillette in 07 and with each play an opposing player (Braylon Edwards?) made, some drunk fool would shout "fantasy points!" I wanted to push him over the edge but refrained as I had tickets for a game a few weeks later and really wanted to go!

I restrict fantasy football discussions to those in my league. It seems to be the best way to keep non fantasy players happy and honestly, it is just polite.

As for the nfl's edict, what is the point? most people have smatphones and can get their info readily. A waste of time to even put 10 seconds of thought into this in the NFL offices.

I had Santonio Holmes on one of my teams last year, and if I could have chosen what he'd do stat-wise for the year, I would have chosen 0 rec., 0 yards, 0 TDs. Just cause a guy's on your fantasy team doesn't mean you have to root for him.

 

[dhamz]

The NFL (and all sports) have to deal with the growing issue of fans preferring to stay home because it is rapidly becoming a better fan experience than attending games is.

You can sit at home now with a big screen HD TV and Sunday Ticket or the Red Zone on cable, watch your team, keep track of all your team's rivals, all your fanatsy players if that is your thing, save $, and be much more informed of what happenned in your teams game and around the whole league. HD video screens, more frequent out of town score updates, etc. are steps they need to take.