Mark Cuban says the NFL's biggest risk is fantasy football

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recently made news when he called out the NFL with criticism of its "greed" and warned that the NFL would implode in 10 years. He later expanded on those comments in a Facebook post on why he said the things he said. Specifically, Cuban mentions fantasy football as a point of contention.

This is the portion of the post from Facebook that explains why he thinks the NFL will implode:

4. Fantasy Football. TV saturation is not the NFL's biggest risk. What is their biggest risk ? Fantasy Football. Yep Fantasy Football. 

When I broached the topic of the NFL being too aggressive and possibly devolving from "piggy territory" to "Hoggy Territory", the recurring response was that Fantasy Football is the difference. That Fantasy Football drives interest in the NFL.

Is that true ? What does everyone out there think ?

How much is the NFL worth in aggregate ? At least an average of $1 billion dollars per team ? And with the whole probably being worth more than the sum of the parts, the NFL if it was a public entity with all the teams in a single holding company, traded on the stock market, would be worth what ? Half of Facebook ? 3X+ Twitter or about $100 billion dollars ?

Could a $100 billion dollar venture really be dependent on how many people sign up for leagues to get points for plays and bragging rights with their friends ? If the answer is yes, that is a problem for the NFL and to a lesser extent all pro sports.

Does anyone believe that in 10 years Facebook will be the dominant social network ? It might be. What about Twitter ? Will it be a player ? Will Google dominate ? How will they dominate?

We all know from history that very few tech based businesses live on as they currently are forever. And 10 years is forever. And Fantasy Football at its base is a tech based form of entertainment.

I'm not saying there haven't been quite a few online entertainment franchises that have been able to thrive over 10 plus years. There are more than a few.

What I do know is that every kid and their brother is looking for ways to create games or new forms of entertainment that pull people's attention away from fantasy football.

Do you bet on the NFL and Fantasy Football or do you bet on the entrepreneurial field ?

Could there possibly be a new technology or new form of entertainment that impacts the popularity of fantasy sports and has a big impact on not just the NFL, but all pro sports at some point in the next 10 years ?

I bet yes.

FtSb Says: Fantasy sports has been embraced by the NFL more than any other major sport. What Mark Cuban raises is an interesting question of dependence. Fantasy sports was around before technology was around and when games were scored with pencil and paper and the sports section of the newspaper was the authority. It was technology that launched fantasy sports into its current domination. What if the technology changed in several years? What happens to the fantasy sport and because of it's dependence what happens to the NFL? The fantasy sport should support the parent sport.  Cuban raises some interesting points however, the NFL is keeping an eye on fantasy sport and at the moment Roger Goodell wants to keep the experience of fantasy football as enhancing the social experience of enjoying football.