Just over 5 million Canadians — about 20% of the online population — have participated in fantasy sports online or via a mobile device, according to a new study from Solutions Research Group (SRG).
The findings come courtesy of the Toronto research firm’s Sports Canada Quarterly report, which tracks sports fans, sponsors and consumer behaviour in the sports space. The results are based on interviews with 1,500 people.
In Canada, the top sports for fantasy sports participants on an unaided basis were (in order) NHL hockey, NFL football, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, NBA and CFL football. Yahoo, TSN, ESPN, RDS, DraftKings, Sportsnet, CBS Sports, Facebook and FanDuel led all fantasy sports sites and apps.
The report found on an aided basis, more than half of people (51%) participating in fantasy sports were aware of Yahoo Sports, and 34% were familiar with DraftKings.
Brands including the financial planning company Freedom 55 Financial and Coors have previously associated themselves with fantasy sports, while former Canwest CEO Leonard Asper is among the principals of the 24-hour Fantasy Sports Network (FNTSY), which recently launched in free preview for Cogeco Cable Canada customers.
The SRG study said what made fantasy sports consumers so attractive is the fact they are “disproportionately” young and male. More than 91% of online and mobile participants are under the age of 50, while the median age is 34 – about 10 years younger than the typical fan of sports such as the NHL, NFL or MLB.
Nearly three quarters (74%) of people who participated in fantasy sports in the past year were male.
The study findings come amid reports of a major scandal in fantasy sports in which employees of two major U.S. fantasy sports companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, allegedly used information not readily available to the public to make bets that yielded huge payouts.
The scandal led Nevada regulators to shut down the sites, stating they can no longer operate in the state without a gambling license. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association, meanwhile, recently issued a position paper arguing that fantasy sports should not be regarded as gambling, but as a game of skill.
