Game Within a Game

Those of you who play fantasy football using ESPN may have noticed something different this year. One of the league trophies that comes pre-installed with your league is the "Never Say Never" trophy, and its given to the winner of the game that has the narrowest margin of victory.

What is so special about this? the trophy is sponsored! Yes, the weekly never say never trophy is brought to you by our good friends at GMC! This got me thinking. FFL is inherently a practice of game theory, with the reward being cash, bragging rights, whatever. Fantasy Football is also a multi-billion dollar business.What if sponsors offered prized based on other outcomes, like most points in a week sponsored by the NYSE. Or, beat down of the week sponsored by Ringout. And each of these awards would come with some sort of gift card or spiff that get consumers in the stores or online to purchase products. Maybe this isn't so emerging, maybe its just a matter of time. A fundamental characteristic of game theory is an entities choices having a tangible affect on other participants. We see this in FFL. Late in the season we see many players who may be out of the playoff race start to "forget" to set their rosters any be apathetic in general. But, if an iTunes gift card was on the line every week, or a meal at Outback, I bet that interest would remain high, and sponsors would have another way to get into our lives.Hey, being inundated with ads is a small price to pay for a bloomin' onion coupon.....