Watching sports has changed dramatically in the last ten-fifteen years.
When my kids were growing up in the 80’s and early 90’s we were all sports fans. We had our favorite teams and we followed them closely.
My kids are still big sports fans, but their focus has changed.
Enter fantasy sports. Fantasy leagues has allowed the fan to be more interactive in their viewing. They can draft players to be on their team, then decide which ones will play on any given game.
When they first started, TV would sometimes spend more time on the player’s fantasy potential, than the actual game effect.
So during any game, the one that is on the screen or they are at, is only a portion of their interest during that time period. They might have an Aaron Rodgers from Green Bay at quarterback and an Antonio Brown from Oakland at receiver.
There are web sites that cater to displaying just the stats of players absent the outcome of the games they are in. Their smart phones are their conduit to how “their team” is doing. They compare their “managing skills” to the rest of their friends in the league. They are now more than spectators but personally vested in the results of the players.
They are still big fans of sports, but the results of the actual games are less interesting to them than the results of “their teams” that they formed themselves.
Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.