ETEC 565G- HOA #1

CULTURAL MAPPING: FANTASY FOOTBALL

By Kelly Nichols
Step 1: A League is Born Escape

An acquaintance or an individual from an online fantasy

community decides they are going to start a fantasy
football league. He/she gathers participants (usually 10-12),
sets up a league (typically online), and sets a draft date. Surveillance 

Henceforth, they are known as the league commissioner. Intentions

Arousal
for setting up or joining a league could be categorized into 5 main
factors.

Social Interaction Entertainment

Proper etiquette when joining a league includes:

paying fees on time, creating a fantasy account,
making preparations for the draft, and
commitment to the 17 weeks of league play with
the possibility of 6 weeks of playoffs.

Failure to complete these tasks or maintaining the

expected level of commitment would be seen as
disrespectful to both the league commissioner and
participants and could result in poor relationships,
communication and/or banishment from the league.

Casual Players involvement

regard
Step 2- Preparing for the Draft
surveillance Preparing for the draft really means
deciding what type of participant you will
involvement
regard
be. Fantasy football participants will join
entertainment Skilled Players for a variety of reasons and come with a
Thrill Seekers involvement spectrum of personality traits.
regard Consequently, no two participants or
social/arousal
fantasy football leagues are alike. There
are however, some common player
involvement
regard
personas derived from intentions,
arousal Trash Talkers engagement, and interest that can be.
Formatives
found in most leagues. To be
successful requires equal parts
knowledge of the game and decoding
involvement intercultural communications with
regard
entertainment
other league participants..

Step 3- Draft Day

Draft day is arguably the most important
days of the entire fantasy football
season. Each league will have their own
traditions, rituals, rules and etiquettes.
 For example, some may draft
face-to-face or online. Some
drafts may take only a few

o's
D re the draft
hours, others make take the
entire day. Participation is
ance
e afford
efo draft order, mpoicks in a
r
ch b
ar mandatory so it is vital to
Rese s with a snaoki must make tw
ng o
gue
In lea to those
wh understand what the draft
en
is giv short time
relati
ve day expectations are in ones
h a v e fun league. Additionally, for an
d
jokes an all day face-to-face draft,
Make s jo y or
s
an d expre picks
ss ver refreshments (typically
Discu intment o
po alcoholic), food
disap
es
cumstanc
ir
n d in g unforeseen rcing drafting) (appetizers, BBQ, or
nd ersta n draft day ton freezes du
Be u ccurs o er scree
o mput
snacks), NFL themed
error , a co
if an le
xam p paraphernalia and
(for e
or share ners.
des ow team clothing are
e tra other
Refus tion with
ma expected to be
infor
consumed,
displayed and worn
The draft is when players select virtual NFL
players to their team rosters and constant electronic or

verbal communication is needed

throughout this process. It is
common in most leagues,
however, for there to be a
simultaneous side communication
between participants
to express feelings
of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction among the players
chosen. Trash talking, boasting,
joking, common ways to express
satisfaction while profanities, Don
complaints, and self-deprecating
Sarcasm Be a
'ts
comments are frequently used s
Less low d
and metaphors
to express are also
dissatisfaction. af
cons fordance rafte
are e
idera
ble ti w ill be gi
r
used abundantly, however, xpec
ted t
m e bet ve n to
o be ween dra players w
read
however, both can be used to y wh ft picks a ho have
Over en th n
eir tu d subseq
jo k e or rn uentl
express satisfaction and (e.g.
tellin
g an o m ake b
arriv
es. y
comm
only w n
know er to pick ad jo
dissatisfaction and it is up n to up a pla
kes
Make all ow
ners y er th
to the receiver to decode nega as a
poor
at is
every tive c ch oice)
o ne el om
men
.
the comment from the se's
expe picks ts on
sender to interpret ct for
revie
wing given
resea the r ess f
their true meaning. rchin ules
of or hu
g inju l
ry re eague se man
ports
of pl
t by th
e comm
error
ayer
While no draft ignor s bef is
ore d sioner or
e tra raftin
day is exactly de re g.
ques
alike for each ts or
collu
de
league, there are
a few etiquette commonalities.
 Step 5- Game Play Once drafted, participants become
'owners’ of their teams. Each week
they are expected to select from their
roster the best combination of players
to score the highest amount of points.

While many leagues have a head to head

component where owners are matched against,
and aim to outscore one another, the true
objective of a fantasy league is to score the most
consecutive points throughout the season.

To achieve these objectives, owners can

trade players with other owners. This task
will require both negotiating and bartering
skills. While each seeks to gain greater
value out of the trade then their opponent,
there is also a line of acceptable bartering.

For example, offering a poor trade such as an 8th round tight end draft pick for
a 1st round quarterback would be very insulting. Another example would be
trying to trade a player who is injured or “questionable to play” to another
owner. However, some leagues may encourage and promote devious dealings
and thus it’s important to be aware of one's own league culture. league.

Step 6- The League Winner ( & Loser)

Perhaps it is the league winner and loser that best
exemplifies the true subcultures within each individual
league. While notably in the mainstream, all league
winners will gain the elusive title of champion,
winnings, and subsequent bragging rights.

Other affordances may include 1st round draft pick the

following year and selecting the punishment for the loser
of the league. Loser traditions tend to have more variance
League
Champion and include anything from getting the last round draft pick
to getting a tattoo designed by the league winner.

Depending if the league has more individualist or

collectivist participants, in and out cultures can be formed
based on yearly performance and end results. Being last
in the league may put that individual on the outside
impacting future alliances and dealings. The Shiva

ENDZONE
The subculture of fantasy football most resembles “The Onion’ model of culture
(Hofstede, 1991 and others).

Each new year and within every different league a new level the fantasy
football subculture can be revealed As stated throughout this cultural
mapping, each league has its own rituals. These rituals will be determined
by the participants of the league and the factors lying behind their
decision to participate coupled with their interpersonal communications
with one another. Often, league leaders and winners tend to embody or
else dictate terms of the league and help to model the rituals expected of
those within the league. Lastly, thanks to online fantasy sites, a
standardization of symbols surrounding NFL terminology helps to reduce
failed communications. However, other interpersonal communications can
still be fuddled through symbols with the use of emoticons and gifs in
group chats and interpreting the actions of owners each week. These
rituals, heroes and symbols make up the overall values of each fantasy
football league.

References
Fantasy Football 101: Fantasy football etiquette. (2018, June 05). Retrieved September 14, 2018,
from http://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/story/_/id/19577495/fantasy-football-etiquette

Fantasy Sports Trade Association (n.d.). Fantasy Sports Demographic Information.

Retrieved September 12, 2018, from https://fsta.org/research/industry-demographics/

Farquhar, L. K., & Meeds, R. (2007). Types of Fantasy Sports Users and Their Motivations.
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication,12(4), 1208-1228. doi:10.1111/j.1083-
6101.2007.00370.x

O'Meara, P. (2018, July 10). To The Coach Who Ruined The Game For Me. Retrieved September
13, 2018, from https://www.theodysseyonline.com/to-the-coach-who-ruined-the-game-for-
me

Ploeg, A. J. (2017). Going global: Fantasy sports gameplay paradigms, fan identities and
cultural implications in an international context. European Journal of Cultural Studies,20(6),
724-743. doi:10.1177/1367549417732995

Plum, E. (2007). Cultural intelligence - A concept for bridging and benefiting from cultural
differences (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (trans. D. Cunnane). This
article is based on the Danish book: Kulturel Intelligens, by E. Plum in collaboration with B.
Achen, I. Dræby & I. Jensen. Copenhagen: Børsens Forlag.

Rodriguez, A. (2017, September 03). How the $7 billion US fantasy football industry makes
its money in 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2018, from https://qz.com/1068534/how-the-7-
billion-us-fantasy-football-industry-makes-its-money-in-2017/

(all images provided from Canva)