New Day, New Game: Examining Consumer Needs in Daily Fantasy Sports

he aim of the current research was to identify consumer needs that significantly influenced daily fantasy sports (DFS) consumption. Specifically, we sought to predict DFS participation intention and information search. Existence, relatedness, and growth (ERG) theory and self-determination theory (SDT) served as theoretical inspirations for need selection. Th e needs included were needs for autonomy, arousal, uniqueness, status, achievement, competence, and relatedness. The results of the current study indicate that autonomy and achievement needs are important for DFS consumers. Additionally, highly involved DFS participants are more likely to be driven by needs competence, while low involvement players showed relatively higher level of needs for arousal and uniqueness drove their DFS participation intention. These results from our model can be used by industry professionals in the DFS space to better understand the consumer needs and develop effective market strategies within daily fantasy sports.