It is the contention of some members of the media that individuals who play fantasy sports, particularly fantasy football, have less allegiance to their favorite sports teams than individuals who do not play fantasy sports. The following study aimed to evaluate the validity of these claims by comparing fantasy players and non-fantasy players in three respects: 1) their identification with their favorite NFL teams; 2) their identification with their favorite fantasy football players and favorite NFL players, respectively; and 3) their identification with several points of attachment for NFL football, including the teams, players, coaches, the sport, and the level of play. This study aimed to add to the existing body of research on team identification and fantasy sports, and it represents the first academic study to compare fantasy and non-fantasy players. A combination of paper and online surveys of 280 NFL fans at Florida State University revealed that fantasy football players identify with their favorite NFL teams at higher levels than do NFL fans that do not play fantasy football, contrary the contentions of the media. Fantasy players also identified with their favorite fantasy football players at similar levels to non-fantasy players' identification with their favorite NFL players. A number of other points of attachment for NFL fans were also addressed. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2007. / April 5, 2007. / Fantasy Football, Team Identification, Sports Media / Includes bibliographical references. / Arthur Raney, Professor Directing Thesis; Laura Arpan, Committee Member; Steven McClung, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_181687 |
| Contributors | Corrigan, Thomas Fitzpatrick (authoraut), Raney, Arthur (professor directing thesis), Arpan, Laura (committee member), McClung, Steven (committee member), School of Communication (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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