Steve M. Parker, Jr. tackled this very question in an article from advertising site Adotas.com. The article relates the strength of brand loyalty and advertising vis-a-vis NASCAR. Well, it’s true, there are ads everywhere in NASCAR - on jumpsuits and cars, the list goes on and on. The article utilizes a study to show that owners of fantasy sports also identify strongly with advertising as it relates to their favorite hobby:

In fact, the…research also found the following of fantasy football fans:
80% expect to see ads on a fantasy sports website
62% expect the brand advertising will “fit with their interest”
56% are “more likely” to notice an advertisement on a fantasy sport website than another website
50% are “more likely” to purchase products from a sponsor

The article uses the above data to beg the question of whether brands should sponsor sites to support leagues or leagues themselves.

I would not argue the assertion that fantasy sports presents a tremendous opportunity for advertisers since millions of men (and women) play the game with an increasing number each year. I also agree that online advertising is where it’s at for would-be advertisers for fantasy sports since upwards of 95% of the millions of fantasy players pursue their passion online.

I don’t, however, agree that the “media value is endless” when it comes to fantasy football. It’s a different model and a lot more choices are available. Choices in which leagues to join, which sites to use to play fantasy, sites from which to read analysis - you get the point. In NASCAR, Kurt Busch has a set of sponsors and you see him every week. In fantasy, you go to the same sites every week, but every fantasy player is not exposed to the same set of advertising and experiences. Fantasy is much more an individual experience I believe than NASCAR is.

By saying fantasy is like NASCAR, there’s too much of comparing apples to oranges for my taste. The similarities are there, but it’s hard to compare fantasy sports and the phenomena it has unleashed to anything out there, in my opinion. Any attempts to reach the fantasy sports demographic will have to be especially tailored and to lump it with NASCAR is painting too broad a paint stroke.