Corporatizing Sports: Fantasy Leagues, The Athlete as Commodity, and Fans as Consumers

This chapter looks at some of the ways sports shape curriculum and educational issues. It discusses the rise of fantasy football leagues, ownership rights of college athletes, and fans as consumers. The consequences of this shift in primary focus from sports as a cultural experience to an economic transaction are important in order to understand how young people learn what it means to be a sports fan, athlete, and citizen of the United States. The National Football League (NFL) website keeps real-time statistics for all players in every game. When a team scores or is close to scoring, an indicator light will highlight that game letting fantasy coaches know that someone's statistics may soon be impacted. Every major sports website hosts fantasy leagues, including Yahoo, ESPN, the NFL, and even the NFL Player's Association. When sporting events are experienced as community events, the athletes are not seen as objects and the fans are not consumers of a good.