Americans may be getting busier every year, but longer working hours and decreased leisure time are not expected to slow down the booming Fantasy Sports Services industry. Fantasy sports involve the development of online platforms where participants act as general managers to build teams that compete against other fantasy owners based on statistics that individual players generate in real life. IBISWorld estimates that the Fantasy Sports Services industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, and it is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 7.6% to $1.8 billion over the five years through 2018. In 2013, an estimated 33.6 million Americans will take part in fantasy sports, including football, basketball, baseball and hockey. This number continues to grow each year as more Americans participate as a form of social interaction with friends and colleagues, which provides a deeper level of involvement with the sports they love.
Furthermore, fantasy sports have become increasingly available to Americans over the past five years because of rapidly growing mobile internet access. The number of mobile internet connections is estimated to grow 22.0% in 2013, which will provide an additional medium through which fantasy sports players can access news and games. As a result, other industries, such as the advertising agencies, internet publishing and broadcasting, and television broadcasting, will grow as they adjust to the growing fantasy sports audience.
iBISWorld
Fantasy Sports Participation, Per-Player Spending Continue To Rise by Jeremy Edwards