After several days of researching and building my data story, I have concluded that the rise of Fortnite, starting significantly in February and March, led to a decrease of sports activity and in attention to sports in general. This trend continues over the summer as Fortnite's popularity continues to soar while that of sports crashes. However, as the story continues to unfold, with Fortnite slowly becoming less popular, a noticeable rise in the popularity of sports occurs. This point supports my claim that Fortnite caused a crash in the popularity of sports because as Fortnite became less popular right after summer, sport searches began making a recovery.
The evidence that supports this statement is illustrated in the first graph. Before Fortnite boomed, sport searches were steady but once Fortnite began to gain popularity and its searches increased, the same of sports began declining. In the summer months Fortnite remained consistently more popular, until about the end of August. Here, a steady decline in Fortnite searches and therefore popularity is visible. Yet while Fortnite declines, sport searches increase at the same rate Fortnite is declining, which proves that while Fortnite reigned, sports suffered, but as Fortnite dies, sports return to dominance. The third graph is the same comparison as the first, but over a shorter time. I included that visual to show more explicitly how Fortnite's declining popularity in turn resulted in sport searches beginning to beat out Fortnite ones more often as they rise again to what they were before Fortnite.
A point could be made that sports only declined because it was summer and kids had more time for Fortnite. This claim can be rebuked by the evidence I found. Fortnite peaked in March, when March Madness, a wildly popular college basketball tournament was happening, showing that there was plenty of sport activity that Fortnite soared over when it rose. Also, the second graph focuses on baseball and the MLB, whose season spans over summer. Fortnite's continued domincance, even over the slight competitor of baseball during the time when baseball is most popular shows how Fortnite obviously turned away some previous sports fans.
Some may also argue that it didn't turn sports fans, both I found two articles that both revolve around how Fortnite has taken hold of even professional athletes. Both articles discuss how coaches and some players are worried about players playing too much Fortnite. Both also cite specific cases talking about Fortnite as having consequences for athletes, where a player wouldn't get accepted into pros because he played too much Fortnite and another where a player potentially had an eye problem because of the game. Both examples reveal how even pros prioritize the game over their own job and job opportunities at times, further illustrating this data story's point of how Fortnite negatively affects sports. The third article focuses on kids more. It summarizes Fortnite's extremely addictive nature and its ability to draw anyone in. The article could therefore be used as evidence as to why Fortnite would have the ability to beat out one of America's most beloved virtues - sports. It further discusses how parents need to make sure their kids are spending time off screen and participating in actual "physical activity". The fact that an article explicitly says this also shows how much fortnite has reduced sport and evidently physical activity as a whole.
In conclusion, my story focuses on the evolution of Fortnite's popularity vs. that off sports and the effects of it as a whole. When Fortnite became popular, sport searches and popularity in general began declining, yet as Fortnite is dying now, sport searches are making a comeback, illustrating their correlation. Each article reveals, through both athletes' and kids' priority of gaming, that Fortnite's addictive nature explains this story.