An Examination of Fantasy Sport Participation Motives and Substitution versus Attendance Intention

Ben Larkin

Fantasy sport users have been shown to exhibit both heightened sport media consumption (Drayer, Shapiro, Dwyer, Morse, & White, 2010, Dwyer, Shapiro, & Drayer, 2011), and a greater propensity to attend live events (Drayer et al., 2010; Shipman, 2001). Therefore, it seems something of a paradox has emerged, whereby fantasy sport participation has been suggested to result in greater substitution through media (e.g., Pritchard & Funk, 2006), and yet it has been suggested that fantasy sport users attend more events. Accordingly, this study applied cognitive evaluation theory to determine whether an individual’s sport consumption patterns differ depending on their motives for fantasy sport participation. Results indicated that those explicitly motivated to participate in fantasy sport showed a significant intention to consume sport events at home, while those who were both implicitly motivated and highly identified with their favorite team were significantly more likely to attend live.