Major League Fantasy Football

[klunderbunker]

Could you see this happening? As in more or less major leagues of Fantasy Football? Fantasy Football is ridiculously popular and it's something that anyone can do. The same was true with poker and it was the hottest thing in the world for awhile. There was a show about people playing Madden I believe. As stupid as it may be, I could potentially see a professional league with sponsors and some sort of a TV show coming out of it.

Do you see this as being possible, or is this too far of a stretch for people to get into?

 

[The Crock]

Definitely possible. Like you said, there was an actual show on ESPN about guys playing Madden, and well... It was fairly stupid but people loved it. If things like MLG (Major League Gaming) exist then why not this? Fantasy football is a huge part of being a football fan nowadays, it's a phenomenon, it's huge everywhere. It's a part of our culture, and it provides superficial entertainment, so it would be a perfect TV show. I have no doubt in my mind that people would get behind something like this.

 

[Stormtrooper]

I can't ever see Major League Fantasy Football (or any sport for that matter) working.

While Fantasy Sports is a ridiculously popular activity (that I partake in), it is quite possibly the most boring thing to watch someone do. All people do is set their lineup/roster, then watch the games. Sports are profitable professional activities because it is compelling entertainment (whether live or on Television).

For example. This morning, I did my last minute roster update on my iPod while at Church (after services). If I was a "professional", what's gonna happen, is a camera gonna follow me all over the place and watch me use my iPod? Or am I going to only be allowed to edit my roster at my PC? Both of these are VERY boring television.

Or are we going to take the "top 12" fantasy players from all over the country and fly them to a central location and watch the games? Watching 12 people who don't know each other get together to watch football sounds extremely boring. The only worthwhile thing out of such a program would be the reaction when their player made a big play or is having a crap game. That fills about a minute of television. Multiply that by 22 or 44 (1/2 hour or hour show plus commercials), and it gets boring quick.

The only way I could see a television show related to Fantasy Football POSSIBLY work would be if the NFL Network (who has the rights to all the games and can show the actual plays) got a group of 12 friends/coworkers that watch football together on Sundays (with every game on), and filmed their draft and Sunday afternoons. Even then, anything more then 30 minutes would become extremely repetitive and boring television. This would have a slight better reaction because characters that have a relationship (of any kind) generally create more enjoyable TV.

Every other game listed (video games, poker, etc) all have some (however slight or niche) entertainment. MLG shows the gameplay, which is slight entertainment (and they have dialog from the team members to spice it up a bit). Poker has the game of poker itself, which has some entertainment value. Pro Fantasy Football would be a highlight show that isn't centered on highlights. We already get highlight shows up the wazoo anyway, so we don't need more, especially since it would have to be a couple days after the games so they can edit.

 

[justinsayne]

Stormtrooper pretty much hit the nail on the head, the only really interesting thing they could air is the draft, after that all it would be is people setting their line-up, making trades, and hitting the waiver wire, adn watching the games, do you really want to watch people watch football?, no of course not, nobody does, MLG and Poker work because it takes some skill to do those, MLG you need know how to play the game, same with poker, you need to know how to play the game, it takes skill, FF all you need to know how to do is put player A in your line up then sit on your ass and watch tv, literally anyone can play and win at FF, so much of the game is based on blind luck, if they did this then what?, are they going to have professional betting next, and entire show where you watch people just make bets, I see no way where MLFF could or would ever work, simply because nobody wants to watch it