Fantasy wagering winds down NFL, revs up NASCAR
Pub Date: 1/1/2009
By Paul F. Vang
Fanatasy football pari-mutuel is coming into its climatic final lap for the season, but NASCAR pari-mutuel is getting ready to rev up.
At press deadline, the pro football season had completed 15 weeks of its 17-week season.
Many teams have clinched playoff spots and by the time this issue of Montana Tavern Times reaches readers, the regular season will be over with the survivors getting ready for the race to the Super Bowl.
Jo Berg, Communications Director for Montana Lottery, speculates that a late-season decline in players is likely due to additional Thursday night football games. People must make their bets before the weekend' games commence, so with Thursday night games, the betting window closes two-and-a-half days earlier, unless they go with a quick pick.
While the flow of money to horse racing is diminishing, Ryan Sherman, executive director of the Board of Horse Racing, remains optimistic. "The fact that we got it going in such a short time is amazing in itself," he says, noting, "It' money we've never had before."
The Board itself will be meeting January 10 to officially review the season and make assessments.
Thus Sherman cautions that his statements reflect his own observations and not any official assessment by the Board of Horse Racing.
Sherman is looking ahead and says, "We'll be working with Montana Lottery to enhance the game as well as work with retailers around Montana to help them market the game to their customers."
Following the close of the professional football season, Montana Sports Action will go into a new fantasy game based on the NASCAR racing circuit.
Sherman says, "Personally, I'm excited about it. A NASCAR fantasy game may be easier for people to play."
While conceding that there probably aren't as many NASCAR fans as professional football fans, Sherman says, "I think people may be surprised. NASCAR popularity has exploded in Montana."
As the football season winds down, Berg says she' developing a feel for who are the players of fantasy pari-mutuel and, perhaps more importantly, who winners are. A number of winners have been people who previously participated in fantasy football leagues, though a few winners were not previous players. One interesting development is that Malta players have been winners in four weeks, so far.
Fantasy Football' first season will conclude at the end of the NFL' regular season, and will not continue through the playoffs. Thus, the first fantasy football season will wrap up December 30.
In the wings for Montana Sports Action is the NASCAR racing season and a new fantasy game based on auto racing. "The programming for that game is near completion," Berg says, noting, "There will also be some changes in the Powerball game coming up in January and that' been a higher priority."
The new NASCAR-based fantasy game will be based on predicting the performance of five drivers each week, picked from the ranks of NASCAR' top 35 drivers.
She anticipates that players may find this a simpler game to play in that there won't be as many variables to consider as there are in football. "I also anticipate we may have additional possibilities of people tying for prizes, which hasn't happened in the football game."
As for a management assessment of the first season of fantasy football, Berg says, "I think it' interesting when we look at the whole picture. We definitely had a slow start, but at the same time we have a number of new retailers selling a lot more than fantasy game tickets.
"Of the 160 retailers who offered fantasy football, they also sold $287,000 in lottery games, plus $205,000 in scratch tickets, earning some $24,000 in commissions. For most of them, those commissions represent new income. In addition, most people playing the fantasy games likely make other purchases or play other games while in the establishment."
Looking ahead, Berg says, "I know we'll keep on making improvements in our games and work on developing new games, and that' when things should really take off; when we can offer multiple games to people at the same time."
She notes that the NASCAR season runs February through November, so players will be playing both football and auto racing fantasy games in the fall months.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, January, 2009, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.