Measuring Fantasy Team and Favorite Team Interactivity Through Implicit Association

<jats:p> Traditional team fandom is a vital component of contemporary spectator sport marketing and communication. However, fantasy sport has recently emerged as a potential threat to team fandom, particularly with regard to the interactivity provided by the virtual game. Research has found evidence that fantasy sport can be both a substitute and a complement to traditional team fandom. However, with limited control over traditional team outcomes and perceived control over fantasy team outcomes, interactivity has emerged as a potential differentiator between the two forms of fandom. Guided by the fantasy football participation and consumption model and endowment theory, the current study conducted an implicit association experiment on the interactivity and passiveness of contemporary professional sport fandom. These results were combined with self-report data to explore potential indicators of implicit bias. The experiment uncovered an association of interactivity to favorite team players and passiveness to fantasy team players. The post hoc examination of potential predictors found the drive to compete, and in-season game outcomes positively impacted the unexpected interactivity implicit bias. </jats:p>