Fantasy Football Not A Worker Productivity Killer

The NFL season is quickly approaching and sports fans across the state are ready. Some fans are also ready to complete their roster as another fantasy football season prepares to launch.

Brad Bobo, who hosts a sports talk show on KNEA 95.3 in Jonesboro, said fantasy football give fans another way to enjoy the game.

In fantasy football, a person can pick a group of players for their team. The person can compete against friends or on websites like rotowire.com or draftkings.com. There is often a scoring system, with players picking up points by scoring offensive or defensive touchdowns as well as field goals.

Bobo said while he is not a big NFL fan, he plays fantasy football. He said it gives fans an opportunity to “have skin in the game,” considering most teams are located several hours away and the only way to watch the teams is on television.

In Northeast Arkansas, the Dallas Cowboys are a fan favorite, Bobo said, but they are about seven hours away. The next closest teams are the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans, which are about four hours away.

PREPARATIONS
Bobo said most people who participate in fantasy football do their research.

“There is almost an endless stream of resources,” Bobo said of the books, magazines and websites dedicated to fantasy football.

In addition, there are daily sports shows on ESPN2 and the NBC Sports Network on the topic.

While people spend time filing out their rosters, a 2014 study showed that fantasy football could seemingly be a drain on the economy. The study from Chicago-based Challenger, Gray and Christmas showed that fantasy football cost $13 billion in lost productivity in 2014.

That number could jump up to nearly $16 billion in 2015, a Challenger report released earlier this month noted.

However, John A. Challenger, whose company completed the study, said people should not be scared about the loss in productivity.

“That figure represents just one hour of unproductive work time each week during the 17-week stretch in which fantasy football becomes an obsession for millions of Americans. However, before getting worried about fantasy football leading to the economy’s collapse, it is important to understand that the figure accounts for a tiny fraction of all the wages paid out over that period,” Challenger said.

“Unless you are J.J. Watt (Houston Texans defensive end), who appears to put in 100 percent during every hour of his workday, it is impossible to reach full productivity. We would burn out within a week. Just look at all of the negative attention given to Amazon.com in recent days for pushing its employees to their limits with a pace and set of expectations that reportedly leave many workers crying at their desk, at some point. Whether you believe the reports or not, most people agree they would not want to work for the type of employer depicted in those reports,” he said.

Challenger said there were also positives to participating.

“We need distractions during the day, whether it’s checking Facebook, scanning Twitter, buying something at Amazon.com, or managing one’s fantasy football team. It may seem counterintuitive, but those short periods of being unproductive help workers be more productive in the long run. They also help boost morale, lower turnover and keep our creative juices flowing. For these reasons, employers may not only want to avoid clamping down on fantasy football, but may want to encourage it within the office,” Challenger said.

Bobo said he did not believe fantasy football has an impact on productivity compared to other sports like baseball, because most fantasy football players spend time only once a week to update their rosters.

The sports talk show host said he has an expert from rotowire.com on his show each week to help fans with their teams.

“It is a big deal, no doubt about it,” Bobo said.