Blacks And Fantasy: Roto-Bias
As a consumer of sports media and a writer myself, I often find myself digging a little bit deeper into articles than the average reader. Immediately after receiving the NFL preview issue of ESPN the magazine, one headline jumped off the page at me. The normal reader might first notice Mario Williams shattering the ESPN logo on the front page, or the fact that ESPN predicted the Texans to make the playoffs, or the ranking of the top bullpens in the major leagues; those headlines pale in comparison to the one tucked in the right-hand corner almost as if they hope no one will notice it: “Why Black Fans Don’t Play Fantasy.”
I half heartedly searched for the article, afraid of what I was going to find. The white majority in fantasy sports is not a new revelation—the FSTA (Fantasy Sports Trade Association) estimated 93% of fantasy players are white. Still, the subject is a little controversial in fantasy circles. No one knows exactly why black people don’t play fantasy sports (and let me foreshadow: the article doesn’t tell you either), but honestly, I don’t think the big companies really care. Here’s today’s typical fantasy baseball player: a mid-30s, college educated, white male with an average income of $75,000. That’s a pretty sweet target for advertisers. As we know, fantasy baseball is a multi-million dollar industry and, as the saying goes, don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Still, I hesitantly turned the page to the article. Of course, with such a controversial topic, ESPN had to find the most controversial writer they could: Stephen A. Smith. A little taken aback that he still has a job, I began perusing through the article. Smith writes:
That right there is great unbiased reporting. If I sound offended by what Smith had to say, you’ve slightly misinterpreted my sentiment. I just don’t think Stephen A. Smith has ever done an ounce of unbiased reporting in his entire career (which, by the way, is far overdue to end). The Philadelphia Inquirer fired Smith earlier this year, and ESPN needs to follow suit. However, regardless of Smith’s bias, the article could be useful to us after all. If you read well into the article, there’s one interesting tidbit of information—from (whom else?) Mathew Berry:
In other words, a fantasy football player is likely to watch his home town team play, and the team of his star running back (or QB, WR etc.). In baseball terms, a fantasy baseball player will not only watch his home town team, but might actually watch a Marlins game just to see Hanley Ramirez swipe a bag.
There’s problem number one. The moment you turn on that Marlins game, Hanley Ramirez jumps from numbers on a piece of paper to a player on the base path. In turn, you attach yourself to the adrenaline rush you receive while watching Ramirez slide into second. No longer are you rooting for Ramirez to steal a base, but you’re rooting for Hanley Ramirez. You’ve left the realm of objective decision making and entered a realm that Stephen A. Smith knows all too well: you’ve just developed a bias.
Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. You should watch baseball: it’s good for your soul. However, you need to remove as much emotion as you can from fantasy baseball. As we move down the homestretch, this idea becomes extremely important. Hanley Ramirez has been on your team the entire year. You’ve watched and cheered as he hit homeruns and stole bases. But now, you’re well up in all of the offensive categories and slightly trailing in strikeouts and wins—time to trade Ramirez. The owners that will have success down the stretch are those who can objectively look at their roster and recognize their weaknesses. Then, objectively trade the players they’ve become attached to because it’s what’s right for the team.
Success, in fantasy baseball, is not measured by emotion; it’s measured by statistics. Fantasy baseball is an entirely objective hobby that far too often is mistaken for a subjective one. Just as ESPN prides itself on objective journalism, you also need to pride yourself on objective team management. In your case it might mean trading away your favorite player. In the case of ESPN, it means firing Stephen A. Smith or at least taking away his column. Please?
I half heartedly searched for the article, afraid of what I was going to find. The white majority in fantasy sports is not a new revelation—the FSTA (Fantasy Sports Trade Association) estimated 93% of fantasy players are white. Still, the subject is a little controversial in fantasy circles. No one knows exactly why black people don’t play fantasy sports (and let me foreshadow: the article doesn’t tell you either), but honestly, I don’t think the big companies really care. Here’s today’s typical fantasy baseball player: a mid-30s, college educated, white male with an average income of $75,000. That’s a pretty sweet target for advertisers. As we know, fantasy baseball is a multi-million dollar industry and, as the saying goes, don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Still, I hesitantly turned the page to the article. Of course, with such a controversial topic, ESPN had to find the most controversial writer they could: Stephen A. Smith. A little taken aback that he still has a job, I began perusing through the article. Smith writes:
"I’m not surprised to learn that so few blacks are among the 30 million people who participate in fantasy sports. I’ve always thought that a lot of these guys (and 96% of them are guys) are nerds desperately in need of more sociable leisure-time activities."
That right there is great unbiased reporting. If I sound offended by what Smith had to say, you’ve slightly misinterpreted my sentiment. I just don’t think Stephen A. Smith has ever done an ounce of unbiased reporting in his entire career (which, by the way, is far overdue to end). The Philadelphia Inquirer fired Smith earlier this year, and ESPN needs to follow suit. However, regardless of Smith’s bias, the article could be useful to us after all. If you read well into the article, there’s one interesting tidbit of information—from (whom else?) Mathew Berry:
“The people who play fantasy are more into sports, more hard-core than the average fan,” Berry says. “The reason the NFL embraced fantasy in such a big way is that it found that fantasy players watch three hours more football a week than the average football fan.”
In other words, a fantasy football player is likely to watch his home town team play, and the team of his star running back (or QB, WR etc.). In baseball terms, a fantasy baseball player will not only watch his home town team, but might actually watch a Marlins game just to see Hanley Ramirez swipe a bag.
There’s problem number one. The moment you turn on that Marlins game, Hanley Ramirez jumps from numbers on a piece of paper to a player on the base path. In turn, you attach yourself to the adrenaline rush you receive while watching Ramirez slide into second. No longer are you rooting for Ramirez to steal a base, but you’re rooting for Hanley Ramirez. You’ve left the realm of objective decision making and entered a realm that Stephen A. Smith knows all too well: you’ve just developed a bias.
Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. You should watch baseball: it’s good for your soul. However, you need to remove as much emotion as you can from fantasy baseball. As we move down the homestretch, this idea becomes extremely important. Hanley Ramirez has been on your team the entire year. You’ve watched and cheered as he hit homeruns and stole bases. But now, you’re well up in all of the offensive categories and slightly trailing in strikeouts and wins—time to trade Ramirez. The owners that will have success down the stretch are those who can objectively look at their roster and recognize their weaknesses. Then, objectively trade the players they’ve become attached to because it’s what’s right for the team.
Success, in fantasy baseball, is not measured by emotion; it’s measured by statistics. Fantasy baseball is an entirely objective hobby that far too often is mistaken for a subjective one. Just as ESPN prides itself on objective journalism, you also need to pride yourself on objective team management. In your case it might mean trading away your favorite player. In the case of ESPN, it means firing Stephen A. Smith or at least taking away his column. Please?
