If you’re a fantasy football diehard attending an NFL game, and are wondering how your squad is doing, you need not waste your phone or handheld device’s precious battery checking.
Instead, simply take a gander at the scoreboard.
As first reported by USA Today, the NFL has instructed all 32 teams to display real-time fantasy football statistics on their scoreboards during the 2011 season.
This will go into effect as soon as Thursday night’s regular season opener between the Saints and Packers, a matchup ripe with fantasy purpose.
League spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed it’s a way for the NFL to keep people in the stands, not at home on their couches.
“We know we have to continue to do more to keep fans coming to our games.,” McCarthy says. “We’re looking at ways to further replicate the at-home experience in the stadium.”
Under the old policy, each team had a choice whether or not to show outside players on its big boards. Now, there will be no choice, meaning it will be customary to see Adrian Peterson‘s stat line while watching the Steelers and Ravens clash.
It’s a smart marketing ploy by the NFL, realizing less and less people were coming to games — and spending a ridiculous amount on tickets, parking, concessions, etc. — in a shaky economy. Given an estimated 20 million Americans take part in fantasy football, they now have more of an incentive to make the trek to the nearest NFL stadium.
