Hey, How does this sound for an idea? I'm going to try to implement it in some form in my footy management game. You know how Football Manager series has background threads, where news stories/results are being calculated even as you're playing, what about taking that to the next level. And instead of just passive, non interactive events happening, real time events occur. For example, You're going over your team formation, and in pops Andy Chase, your 20 million pound star striker. He's got a problem. Some gambling sharks are after him and are demanding five million. This leads to a choice. Do you sacrifice five million of the club's budget to save your star player or do you risk him actually getting whacked? And through scripting, all these events have real and complex consequences. Other less extreme more day to day examples would be, a player coming to complain about not getting picked enough. And you get to have conversation using a form of rpg multi-choice question. And like above, it's not just for show, it has real consequences. like you may offend the player and he slaps in a transfer request. Also, not just walk ins, but telephone calls from fellow managers, where instead of just a contract screen with a offer, a manager will talk to you about buying your player. And when you want to buy a striker, likewise you can call up the manager, or you can be sneeky and call up the player's agent directly. But then risk getting fined for tapping up the player. What do you think, worth implementing? It's all theory atm so I can easily take it or leave it at this point.

New Star Soccer 3 has something similar from the Player's perspective and it does add an extra dimension. Whether it will scare off Footie fans is another thing. I'm a lifelong Championship/Football Manager player and don't like the media and player management side of the game. There's never really the option that I'd use in real-life and there's no way to justify your actions. In addition, you're always second guessing what the game is doing under the covers.
e.g. I warned somebody who was booked for diving and now half my team hate me. The message I wanted to give them is I won't tolerate diving but there's no button for that.
Until we can type a reason in for our decisions all we're really doing is learning the simulation and how to get the best out of it and not pretending to be a football manager.
If you can get around that frustration then it sounds a good idea.

The trouble with this sort of thing is that you need (a) a realistic AI for how players react to outside events, and how the media react to events in your club, and (b) a hell of a lot of content, so you don't keep getting the same thing happening with different numbers.

If you could do it, it would probably be really good, but there's a hell of a lot of work involved.

I was reading on IGN about the upcoming games for the Nintendo Wii and Blitz: The League had something like that. Here is the description they give:

"EA scored big when it secured the exclusive NFL license, but Midway used the deal as incentive to reinvigorate its own football franchise. Blitz: The League stars Lawrence Taylor as Quintin Sands, captain of the New York Nightmare, one of 18 teams that comprise "the league," a fictional re-imagining of the NFL. No longer governed by the policies of the NFL, Blitz the League gets down and dirty with the sport of football, enabling players to engage in questionable on and off-the-field activities, from dirty hits and taking steroids to hiring prostitutes for the opposition's players in an attempt to wear them out before a big game. The title likewise boasts the same arcade-friendly gameplay style that has made Blitz a favorite over the years. Midway is still hard at work on the Wii version, which will feature as-of-yet unannounced new control mechanics that take advantage of the Wii-mote and nunchuck."

-taken from http://wii.ign.com/articles/730/730221p1.html

I'm not sure how detailed the off-the-field activities are, but it might be something to look into.