San Francisco, CA – Fantasy sports participation has grown over 60 percent the past four years as over 32 million people now actively playing in the U.S. and Canada, new research conducted by Ipsos for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) shows. This finding shows the highest participation numbers in the history of fantasy sports. One in five males played fantasy sports in the last year.

Complete results of the survey will be unveiled Tuesday, June 14 at the FSTA Business & Technology Summit in San Francisco, which features panelists from technology leaders such as Facebook, Gigya, Gameslam and Mashery along with fantasy industry stalwarts such as Yahoo! Sports, Gannett and MyFantasyLeague.

Based on the proportion of survey respondents who report having played fantasy sports in the past 12 months in the U.S. (12%) and in Canada (13%), the total projected number of fantasy sports players aged 12 and older is approximately 32 million. The number of fantasy players has increased over 60 percent from a 2007 Ipsos study that showed 19.4 million fantasy sports players. A 2010 study from Ipsos showed approximately 30.6 million people played in the U.S. and Canada.

“The fantasy sport industry continues to grow at a strong rate even through tough economic times,” said FSTA President Paul Charchian. “The combination of great passion for the hobby and inexpensive participation has made fantasy sports very recession resilient. We’re delighted to see participation numbers continue to grow.”

In addition to the demographic data, the FSTA conference will also feature panels on social media, mobile apps, Open APIs and raising investment capital. The FSTA expects record attendance for this conference, which features two days of guest speakers and seminars. A complete schedule of events is available at http://www.fsta.org/.

Charchian added, “The fantasy industry is at the forefront of technology and the impressive list of companies attending our San Francisco conference will showcase the innovation that should continue to fuel this trend.”

Overall, the survey shows that United States’ participation in fantasy sports has increased from those that played in 2010 (11%) while Canada’s participation is down slightly from 2010 (14%). As is usually the case, in the United States and Canada more males (19% and 20%, respectively) than females (8% and 5%, respectively) have participated in fantasy sports in the past year.

It is also interesting to note that college educated, full-time employees are more likely to take part in fantasy sports than their less educated and lesser employed counterparts in both the United States and Canada. Nearly two in ten (18%) college educated Americans have recently played fantasy sports vs. one in ten (10%) of the non college educated population. Similarly, in the United States, 19% of those who have full time employment have played in the past year vs only 11% of the unemployed. In Canada, the story is nearly identical with college educated people twice as likely to play fantasy sports as those without a university degree (22% vs. 11%) and 18% of those full time employed participating vs 11% of the unemployed.

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About the FSTA

The FSTA is the largest and oldest trade group representing the fantasy sports industry with over 120 members ranging from small startups to large media corporations. As the voice of the industry since 1998, the FSTA has been the leader in providing demographic data, annual conferences and collective action to ensure unfettered growth. Visit http://www.fsta.org/ for more information.

About Ipsos

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

Ipsos has media partnerships with the most prestigious news organizations around the world. Ipsos Public Affairs is the polling agency of record for The McClatchy Company, the third-largest newspaper company in the United States and the international polling agency of record for Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.

Ipsos Public Affairs is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based market research company. We provide boutique-style customer service and work closely with our clients, while also undertaking global research. To learn more, visit: http://www.ipsos-pa.com.

For copies of other news releases, please visit: http://www.ipsos-na.com/news/.

Methodology

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted May 4 – May 9, 2011. For this survey, a national general population sample of 1,226 Canadians aged 12 and older and 1,215 Americans aged 12 and older. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the general population sample’s composition reflects that of the U.S. and Canadian 12+ populations according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. An unweighted probability sample of 1,226 and 1215 respondents and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire 12+ population of the United States and Canada had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Paul Charchian or Ipsos, please call (262) 308-5544 or e-mail at paulc@leaguesafe.com.