The Impact of Game Outcomes on Fantasy Football Participation and National Football League Media Consumption, pp. 33-47

Brendan Dwyer

Guided by the Attitude-Behavior Relationship framework, Drayer, Shapiro, Dwyer, Morse, and White (2010) qualitatively developed and proposed a conceptual model to explain the relationship between fantasy football and National Football League (NFL) consumption. Within this framework, it was proposed that in-season game outcomes related to one’s favorite NFL team and fantasy football team impact a participant’s attitudes and trigger additional NFL consumption. Utilizing a pre-post research design, the purpose of the current study was to assess a fantasy participant’s attitudinal and behavioral changes toward the NFL with twelve weeks of fantasy and favorite team outcomes serving as an extraneous treatment. The findings mostly support the framework’s proposition that game outcomes impact a participant’s NFL experience. However, one major revision was suggested because a disconnect resulted between a participant’s favorite NFL team attachment and the behavioral intentions related to the team. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as are suggestions for future research.