The Psychology of Fantasy Football

A lot of people play fantasy football. I don’t happen to be one of them (the last fantasy game I played was probably in high school… yes, it was Dungeons & Dragons. What of it?). But a lot of people do. Apparently, by what would seem to be one totally made up estimate, the number is 35 million. Let’s just say it’s “a lot.”

So, why do so many grown men spend their time playing make-believe sports?

Manzine has some answers:

What is it about fantasy football that draws us in so obsessively?  Here are five reasons why we play.

Variable Reinforcement

If you give a lab rat a lever to press for a reward (a food pellet, or maybe some nachos) there are a few ways to arrange the schedule of reinforcement.  You can give the rat a reinforcer every time (continous reinforcement), or every three times, (fixed ratio reinforcement), it presses the button.  This is predictable, boring, and it doesn’t take the rat long to figure it out.

Or, you can screw with the furry dude’s head and provide the treat randomly after he presses the button.  Sometimes he has to press the lever two times to get a treat, sometimes twenty.  This is called variable ratio reinforcement, and it is powerful stuff.  Of all the different reinforcement schedules, it is variable reinforcement that causes the rat to press the lever most frequently, and makes him least inclined to quit.

The same effect works on humans.  Gambling, especially slot machines, work on a system of variable reinforcement.  You press the lever, sometimes (ok, usually) nothing happens.  Sometimes you win a little bit, and every great once in a while, you win a lot.  The system of variable reinforcement is enough to keep us coming back.

There is an element of variable reinforcement in fantasy football similar to that in gambling.  Every season you prepare for the draft, and every week you make substitutions, and maybe even trade for some new players.  Even if you put the same number of hours in each week, sometimes your picks will pay off; you’ll win big and look like a genius.  Sometimes you can’t catch a break, and all your moves backfire.

It’s that random payoff that makes the game exciting.  Imagine if the number of points your team scored was directly proportional to how many hours you prepared each week.  The game would cease to be worth playing- it would be too much like work!

The other reasons include Competition, Comradery, Teams to Root For, and the Illusion of Control.

Me, I’m more likely to sign up for a fantasy Congress league. Or fantasy mogul or fantasy TV.

Whatever your fantasy world, the basic fact is we love to gamble, we love to pretend we’re something other than we are, and we’re quite adept at feeling real pain and joy living vicariously through our fantasy selves. It’s where great fiction comes from; and it’s how middle-aged men waste some time at the office.

HT: Darcy