Marketers see winner in fantasy football

— -- Some marketers dreaming of more revenue are gambling on the fantasy-football phenomenon.

The fantasy game offers a chance to tap into a committed audience: More than 27.7 million U.S. players spend up to nine hours a week planning and plotting their strategies for weekly matchups in 70 million free and paid leagues (the average player belongs to 2.5 leagues).

Players create season-long dream teams of real players. Weekly fantasy victories are based on those players' combined individual statistics in the real world that week.

The fanaticism adds up to a hardcore audience for advertisers and ad revenue for big online hosting sites, such as the NFL and CBS.

"For advertisers, these are highly dedicated, highly committed players with very, very attentive engagement," says Paul Charchian, president at Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

Perhaps too committed. Time spent playing is the top reason fantasy players are likely to stop, according to a study by FSTA.

Charchian says that despite the economy, the number of players in 2009 will equal last year's. The bulk of players are in free leagues; 95% of paid leagues cost less than $250.

"It's extremely cost-effective entertainment, and it remains an important part of the social networking for men," he says. "They will find other things to scrimp on first."

That's why Best Buy, Snickers, Ford Motor and Coors Light are betting on fantasy:

•Best Buy. The electronics retailer will offer a less-time-intensive way to play. A 17-week promotion lets people pick a new team each week and play against a featured celebrity to win chances in a sweepstakes. The game begins Thursday, when players can pick a team at www.bestbuyfantasy.com and submit a lineup to play against Reba McEntire. Players earn sweepstakes entries equal to the points by which they beat her. There are weekly prizes, and the grand prize is a $5,700 package including a high-def TV, Ibanez guitar and Microsoft Xbox 360.