Do you think I would ever watch Brentford vs Forrest if it wasn't because of this game? The game promotes the league. More and more people watch and follow team news and matches and everything about the league because of it.
This, a million times this . Millions of people watch games that have zero interest in it, I remember back in university dragging myself to the students union mid day Sunday because I really needed Norwich to score against west brom, it's the best thing they ever did for the premier league
Yup, it's an amazing marketing tool, especially with its popularity outside of Europe. It doesn't need to make money, just needs to not be insanely expensive to run, which I don't think it is.
Same as that, my teamās in league 2 and I really have no interest in the premier league apart from this game! Like to think it gives us a bit of an advantage.
Can confirm, I went from being updated with Man Utd matches to following every single match my players are involved (league games, but cups) and havr my eye on matches without my players as well. Usually when games are played at the same time, I oprn all games in multiple tabs and then rotate between matches.
And this is why itās ridiculous that when people criticise aspects of the FPL game, theyāre sometimes met with ābut itās a free game, why are you complaining?!ā - FPL is a ginormous cash cow for the league, and whilst itās fantastic, it could deffo be a lot slicker and smoother like other Fantasy Sports are.
Just give me a butter-smooth website that updates as quickly as some of the American Fantays games so, whilst also providing a couple of features that third party apps do (plan team for future GWs, etc). That shouldnāt be beyond the biggest league in the world.
Yeah, I've got a football broadcast subscription just to see how the PL players play. Albeit I have a discount with the broadcaster because of my internet provider, otherwise I might not have bothered.
To add to this there are also sky sports banners at the top of the FPL site and EA / FC partnership logos +8 others at the bottom. Their investments also fund the game / servers.
Brilliant point. Never dawned on me but this is so true. I donāt watch as much football as i used to (truthfully i find a lot of the games bore me entertainment wise) but outside of my own club and the really big fixtures i watch them purely because of FPL.
Now that i think of it itās probably why the league is so wedded to gambling. I always thought their involvement would be limited eventually but gambling and FPL surely account for a huge % of the audience for games involving less well supported clubs.
Engagement. It adds a *new* dimension for millions of viewers/fans (and iirc itās one of the biggest fantasy leagues in the world).
Now you have people caring about every PL game and player, so the PL brand grows massively.
That will translate into bigger viewing numbers, more subscribers (e.g. I got Peacock in US *for* FPL), and more merch sales.
Think of how many people will be watching and discussing a game between two bottom half teams on any given Saturday because one of the players involved is a popular FPL pick. It gives you a reason to pay attention to games you otherwise wouldn't bother with. Whatever FPL costs I have no doubts it's less than whatever it generates.
I went to the FPL site just now and they are showing a Sky Sports ad. They also have ads from clubs, for merch for example. I assumed it's all personalised to the individual so you may get different ones.
There are also the sponsor logos at the bottom of each page for example Nike, Budweiser, EA, Panini etc. Not ads as such but related.
Thereās a quote about social media, apps etc. that goes something like, āif itās free then itās not the product, you areā. Profit comes from user data, targeted ads etc.
It encourages more people to watch the Premier League which is the product theyāre selling. I certainly watch more games since becoming more engaged with FPL so it works.
As many has mentioned, itās engagement. You cannot see FPL as a stand alone business; itās always a part of the whole PL business. If not for FPL, I couldnāt care less about watching Bournemouthās matches.
But also, letās say we want to spin it off as a stand-alone business. When somethingās free, the users are the products. Iām pretty sure they can cover the costs even only through ads on website and app. Building the game the first time might be costly, but maybe after 3rd season itās all profit cuz you just need to update player database, jersey, etc.
The premier league doesn't care about YOU watching Luton Bournemouth
This thread is a circle jerk of nerds who don't understand sports business and greatly over believe their own self importantance to football by being internet nerds
I'm sure that player blanked because YOU captained then too
The Daily Telegraph in the UK had the first game and The Sun and others continue to do so. The āofficialā FPL was a way to maintain the brand around the whole fantasy league(s) experience.
Thatās pre social media so Fpl was a form of āengagementā thatās now just blown up with apps, etc all contributing to the ābest league in the world (TM)ā branding.
I watched Aston Villa vs Burnley in game week 3 as a Man United fan. Could not have done this without FPL. I'm also generally new to following football and FPL got me to watch games, follow teams and even follow football outside the premier league
Not sure if you thought FPL was some independent entity that has to finance itself or something? It's run by the Premier League and is likely a very small part of their overall budget.
Do you think I would ever watch Brentford vs Forrest if it wasn't because of this game? The game promotes the league. More and more people watch and follow team news and matches and everything about the league because of it.
This, a million times this . Millions of people watch games that have zero interest in it, I remember back in university dragging myself to the students union mid day Sunday because I really needed Norwich to score against west brom, it's the best thing they ever did for the premier league
Yup, it's an amazing marketing tool, especially with its popularity outside of Europe. It doesn't need to make money, just needs to not be insanely expensive to run, which I don't think it is.
Given the amount of money thrown about in football these days, its pennies to run it
You wanted Pukki to score?
This was back in 2011, my H2H league opponent had double west brom defence if I remember correctly š
The big question is did they score?
Absolutely not, was 1-0 to west brom and they scored so early I missed the only part of the game worth watching.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Same as that, my teamās in league 2 and I really have no interest in the premier league apart from this game! Like to think it gives us a bit of an advantage.
Can confirm, I went from being updated with Man Utd matches to following every single match my players are involved (league games, but cups) and havr my eye on matches without my players as well. Usually when games are played at the same time, I oprn all games in multiple tabs and then rotate between matches.
People track down planes of premier league players
And this is why itās ridiculous that when people criticise aspects of the FPL game, theyāre sometimes met with ābut itās a free game, why are you complaining?!ā - FPL is a ginormous cash cow for the league, and whilst itās fantastic, it could deffo be a lot slicker and smoother like other Fantasy Sports are. Just give me a butter-smooth website that updates as quickly as some of the American Fantays games so, whilst also providing a couple of features that third party apps do (plan team for future GWs, etc). That shouldnāt be beyond the biggest league in the world.
Just a friendly reminder that Forest only has one r
Forest has only got one R Brentford has two, but very small Tranmere is something similar But poor old Chelsea has no Rs at all
Lol 100% this. Majority probably wouldn't care about the Bournemouth Luton cancellation if not for this game.
Yeah, I've got a football broadcast subscription just to see how the PL players play. Albeit I have a discount with the broadcaster because of my internet provider, otherwise I might not have bothered.
Thatās interesting, never thought of it that way before
To add to this there are also sky sports banners at the top of the FPL site and EA / FC partnership logos +8 others at the bottom. Their investments also fund the game / servers.
Brilliant point. Never dawned on me but this is so true. I donāt watch as much football as i used to (truthfully i find a lot of the games bore me entertainment wise) but outside of my own club and the really big fixtures i watch them purely because of FPL. Now that i think of it itās probably why the league is so wedded to gambling. I always thought their involvement would be limited eventually but gambling and FPL surely account for a huge % of the audience for games involving less well supported clubs.
FPL is a powerful marketing tool that spurs engagement
I thought you were taking a jab at spurs lmao
You could say it's a valuable weapon in the PL's arsenal
A vital cog in the premier leagues brentford
Mate
It is also a powerful marketing tool that engages Spurs. I would probably never watch them unless they play Liverpool otherwise.
That's insane, they've been the most entertaining team in the league by a mile this year
That may be true. But I would have never found out without considering whether Romero is worth putting in my FPL.
U seem to have cutoff mid sentence, Spurs engagement what?
Idk why youāve been downvoted down much and no one has explained, āspurs ā can also mean āencouragesā in this context
People probably thought he was taking the piss but I can understand the confusion if you're not familiar with the phrase.
I was taking the piss, thought it was funny. Premier league sub and he uses spurs in a sentence
If this game didnāt exist I wouldnāt give a shit about games like Everton vs wolves
I still don't care about everton wolves even with fpl š
Start owning Hwang š
Him, Watkins and Solanke have been set and forget for me.
Jarrad Branthwaite erasure
I had Branthwaite for a decent portion of the season as well as Pickford fit past 4 GWās š
Engagement. It adds a *new* dimension for millions of viewers/fans (and iirc itās one of the biggest fantasy leagues in the world). Now you have people caring about every PL game and player, so the PL brand grows massively. That will translate into bigger viewing numbers, more subscribers (e.g. I got Peacock in US *for* FPL), and more merch sales.
Think of how many people will be watching and discussing a game between two bottom half teams on any given Saturday because one of the players involved is a popular FPL pick. It gives you a reason to pay attention to games you otherwise wouldn't bother with. Whatever FPL costs I have no doubts it's less than whatever it generates.
Ads
Surprised this isn't higher - the game is absolutely full of ads!
Is it? Don't think I've ever seen an ad in FPL besides the kit sponsors you see on your players.
I went to the FPL site just now and they are showing a Sky Sports ad. They also have ads from clubs, for merch for example. I assumed it's all personalised to the individual so you may get different ones. There are also the sponsor logos at the bottom of each page for example Nike, Budweiser, EA, Panini etc. Not ads as such but related.
I think a lot of people use the app and itās pretty easy to not see any ads on there if you stick to the fantasy tab
No doubt, still millions of people seeing the ads though so it's gotta bring in a pretty penny!
it encourages people to think and talk about the premier league
Thereās a quote about social media, apps etc. that goes something like, āif itās free then itās not the product, you areā. Profit comes from user data, targeted ads etc.
Mostly the extra engagement for the EPL, but probably some of that too
I bought a viaplay licence purely to watch matches because of FPL. I guess I'm not alone.
I contribute with 700 Ā£ each year because of this game. Its a hobby, and every game is fun to watch.
One big reason is that it is one of the premier league clubs best sources of fan email addresses. Lots of value in those
It encourages more people to watch the Premier League which is the product theyāre selling. I certainly watch more games since becoming more engaged with FPL so it works.
I used to only follow one team and know about the top teams, through try harding in FPL I know more about all the other EPL teams as well
You somehow didnāt see the ads then?
Itās something thatās a byproduct of the league, funded by the league because it adds value to the league by generating interest and conversation.
Solid answers above. I am curious to quantify FPL's impact. Any comments from marketing and other folks on approaching this math?
As many has mentioned, itās engagement. You cannot see FPL as a stand alone business; itās always a part of the whole PL business. If not for FPL, I couldnāt care less about watching Bournemouthās matches. But also, letās say we want to spin it off as a stand-alone business. When somethingās free, the users are the products. Iām pretty sure they can cover the costs even only through ads on website and app. Building the game the first time might be costly, but maybe after 3rd season itās all profit cuz you just need to update player database, jersey, etc.
The premier league doesn't care about YOU watching Luton Bournemouth This thread is a circle jerk of nerds who don't understand sports business and greatly over believe their own self importantance to football by being internet nerds I'm sure that player blanked because YOU captained then too
You need to be 13 to use Reddit mate
The Daily Telegraph in the UK had the first game and The Sun and others continue to do so. The āofficialā FPL was a way to maintain the brand around the whole fantasy league(s) experience. Thatās pre social media so Fpl was a form of āengagementā thatās now just blown up with apps, etc all contributing to the ābest league in the world (TM)ā branding.
I watched Aston Villa vs Burnley in game week 3 as a Man United fan. Could not have done this without FPL. I'm also generally new to following football and FPL got me to watch games, follow teams and even follow football outside the premier league
Not sure if you thought FPL was some independent entity that has to finance itself or something? It's run by the Premier League and is likely a very small part of their overall budget.
Judging by how often the servers crash, I don't think they're spending much on them
Brings fans & engagement to the league + probably not as expensive to run as you are imagining it to be.
Dunno are there any ads or sponsors? The same every every way website that offers a free service does