Over half of American households don't own any shares of stock, and many of those with shares don't actively manage their portfolio. In contrast, participation in fantasy football competitions continues to expand exponentially since its introduction in 1962. It seems clear then; Americans care more about fantasy football than retirement.
That's quite a startling claim but it's believed that there are now up to 18 million fantasy sports players in the US, with a growth rate of "7 percent to 10 percent a year for the past three years" (1). In contrast, US stock ownership is claimed to have increased by just "5.2 percent since 2002" (2).
In many instances, people spend considerably more time managing their fantasy football teams than they spend managing or monitoring their financial portfolios. It is not unusual for individuals to log onto their fantasy football website on a daily basis to see how their players are doing and to tinker with their lineup. It's reported that the "average fantasy football player spends 5.2 hours online each week" managing their teams (3). However, the chances are that the same people maybe review their financial portfolio, at best, once a month and perhaps much less frequently.
Of course, not all fantasy football players maintain such vigor when dealing with their fantasy football team. Often, the amount of time spent on their team dwindles if they find that they are performing poorly. In contrast, it is precisely when shares are performing at their worst that investors often start to take a keener interest in their stock portfolio.
Perhaps a factor in this phenomenon is that fantasy football has been set up to be more accessible and easier to manage than stock market portfolios? Fantasy football websites are designed to be used by the masses and tend to be intuitive and free from confusing jargon. The contrast with online dealing websites is stark! Maybe take-up and subsequent active management of stocks would be boosted if we allowed the creators of fantasy football leagues to take over the running of the online financial brokerages? Now that would certainly be quite an interesting job swap to witness!
Sources and further reading and viewing:
* NFL stars on their fantasy football picks:
* (1) Fantasy Football figures: http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/11/news/companies/fantasyfootball/
* (2) US stock ownership: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/wellspent/archives/2005/11/stock_ownership.html
* (3) Fantasy football play costs US companies millions: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2246031320070822
* Americans stock ownership: http://www.commondreams.org/views/072600-101.htm
* US Census Bureau - 2009 Statistical Abstract: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/banking_finance_insurance/stocks_and_bonds_equity_ownership.html
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