How FX’s “The League” satirizes fantasy sports fans
The three clips I found for my media experiment are excerpts from the FX show “The League”. The first clip shows Rodney Ruxin (played by Nick Kroll) and Kevin MacArthur (played by Steve Rannazzisi, known for, uh, other things) negotiate the sentence of a man accused of robbing three convenience stores in exchange for draft pick positioning in their fantasy league. The second shows MacArthur flipping out after losing out on the league championship. He seems particularly perturbed that, despite setting up the league every year as commissioner, he never makes the championship game. Last, the show shows the members of the league deciding the draft order.
All three clips parodies the competitive nature of fantasy sports. The second clip also gives a snapshot of how fantasy sports players follow the sport itself. We don’t know who the kicker is nor who he plays for, only that he needs to make the field goal for MacArthur’s team to win. The show satirized the level in which fantasy sports players take their league. I’m sure (or at least I hope) real people are not negotiating jail sentences over their fantasy league, but it would not surprise me if there were people who did take their fantasy leagues this seriously.
