The Tendo View

Add it to the list of things you like, but don’t need to spend your hard-earned cash on: I’m thinking Kindles, satellite radio, and, of course, fantasy football.

But fantasy football—in which participants draft real players (and their stats) for a fantasy team and then compete against other fantasy teams—has become big business. Every spring we’re accustomed to seeing the requisite articles calculating how much productivity is lost due to March Madness pools; now the same articles pop up about fantasy football, which has grown into an $800 million industry with 30 million players, according to a recent Time article.

The numbers don’t lie: In addition to the basic cost of joining a league ($73 on average), a whole industry has sprouted up around fantasy football, as Hoover’s writer Danny Cummings explains.

Fantasysportsinsurance.com offers insurance that allows you to recoup entry fees if a key player suffers a season ending injury, and for $14.95 fantasydispute.com will help you settle disputes that arise within your league. Fantasysportstropies.com offers players the option to buy a $10 victory wreath for the league’s winner or, if you prefer, a $325 full-sized brass football trophy for those that take their fantasies seriously.

So how did fantasy football develop its impressive marketing mojo? It’s one of the few booming businesses during this big recession—apparently fun sells, even when the economy is gloomy and doom-y. More specifically, fun sells when you market to enthusiasts.

Football already generates plenty of anticipation and excitement, and here’s a chance to transform the average armchair quarterback into a money-making, trash-talking, online team coach, in charge of drafting players, making substitutions, and formulating trades. The spectator morphs into the participant, with an opportunity to build his own team (or her team—women are joining fantasy leagues, too) and enjoy an exciting and competitive online experience. The NFL benefits, also, as football fans become even more knowledgeable and interested in players from teams they probably didn’t care about a few years ago.

So while some employers and “football widows” may gripe about the time spent on make-believe, sports enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and marketers continue to embrace the growing fantasy football empire.