This project explores fantasy sports primarily from the perspective of participants in traditional, season-long fantasy sports leagues. Among other things, the study explores motivations for playing, the types of relationships formed and maintained through fantasy sports, “fandom,” the level of involvement among different groups of participants, what one gains from playing, the downsides to playing, and notions of “success” and “failure.” The project also focuses on how fantasy sports are or are not gendered and includes a survey with 453 respondents (396 of whom played fantasy sports) and 47 in-depth interviews with fantasy sports participants.
My book on fantasy sports with Sarah Winslow (Clemson University) will be published April 2020 with Temple University Press. See http://tupress.temple.edu/book/20000000009748 for more information.
Publications:
Kissane, Rebecca Joyce and Sarah Winslow. 2020. Whose Game? Gender and Power in Fantasy Sports. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press
Kissane, Rebecca Joyce. 2018. “Researching Fantasy Sports Using Mixed and Multi-Methods.” SAGE Research Methods Cases. DOL: 10.4135/9781526446244
Kissane, Rebecca Joyce and Sarah Winslow. 2016. “‘You’re Underestimating Me and You Shouldn’t’: Women’s Agency in Fantasy Sports.” Gender & Society. 30(5):819-841.
Kissane, Rebecca Joyce and Sarah Winslow. 2016. “Bonding and Abandoning: Gender, Social Interaction, and Relationships in Fantasy Sports.” Social Currents. 3(3):256–272.
Winslow, Sarah and Rebecca Joyce Kissane. “Playing (Fantasy) Sport with the Guys.” Gender & Society Blog. Posted November 2, 2016, Available at https://gendersociety.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/playing-fantasy-sport-with-the-guys/