forgot password?

April 17, 2008

Fiber over fluff

Filed under: Leconey: MLB, NFL, and more — Leconey @ 3:10 pm

We recently came across a subscription-based fantasy information service which features videos of attractive, scantily-clad, possibly “enhanced” women reading cue cards about fantasy strategy, news and injuries.

“Hey, what’s up, guys,” a vixen-ish blonde pouts into the camera, turning her shoulders this way and that in a self-confident, provocative way. “That noise you heard last night was Cubs Nation groaning as Alfonso Soriano came up lame.”

The service is the brainchild, so to speak, of an L.A.-based production company that had its own studios and was looking for a way to explore internet video. Their reason for wading into the already swamped fantasy market: “Because guys don’t like watching video from guys that look just like them,” the head honcho said. “Most fantasy players feel they know what they’re doing. If they’re gonna watch video where someone is giving fantasy advice, it better be informative, entertaining, and visually stimulating.”

Hmm … can’t really agree with that. The guys who already “know what they’re doing” aren’t looking for fantasy advice, and they’re probably going elsewhere to satisfy their other needs (wink wink). Guys looking for serious fantasy advice don’t mind watching video of a guy who looks like them if the “expert” actually knows what he’s talking about, and can actually speak from a platform of experience, hard work and proven expertise.

It’s the difference between fantasy meat and fantasy fluff, and it’s what separates fantasy services like FantasyGuru (shameless plug) from some of these all-flash, no-substance sites.

This is an interesting time for the fantasy industry. We seem to be caught between the corporate behemoths muscling into the industry with all their resources and general sports (not fantasy) reputations, and the flash-in-the-pan sites that favor style over solid fantasy substance.

As another fantasy service operator recently pointed out, bigger corporations are now taking the opportunity to consolidate and squeeze profits out of the industry, resulting in a safe, “cookie-cutter” approach to content that shovels the “same old” stuff at readers and discredits our beloved hobby/obsession.

So where does that leave established, proven sites like ours, with hard-working, full-time fantasy professionals? Right where we want to be, doing what we do best. You can be sure when you log on to our site, read our e-mails, watch our videos or listen to our podcasts that you’re not getting your information and analysis from the guy who sliced your salami at the neighborhood deli last week, or the girl who works the pole by night at Delilah’s Den.

Basically, we’ll just keep doing what we’re doing, what John Hansen started 14 years ago, and what our customers expect from us: to provide the most-informed, best-researched, well-connected, up-to-the-minute fantasy news and analysis in an attractive, unique and user-friendly package.

No need for artificial enhancements.