With football season kicking off, so does fantasy football. You may have heard of fantasy football before but not know what it actually is. Maybe you have heard your Dad or Grandpa argue on if a trade should get vetoed, or complain about a fantasy “bust.” Fantasy football has been around for years, with millions of leagues around the world, so what’s all the hype?
The History
The first ever fantasy football league started in 1962, in a hotel room by a partner for the Oakland Raiders named Wilfred Winkenbach. To distract from the struggles of his Raiders, he came up with the idea for him and his friends to make their dream rosters, with players throughout the league, and track their personal stats. Based on how they performed in the game, they would get a certain amount of points, they would add up all their players points, and see who won. This idea caught on and soon enough everyone you knew had their own team. At first, people tracked the points on paper, noting the players stats and seeing how many points they had manually. Now, there are many fantasy apps online, where you can draft and play.
By the Numbers
Over 40 million Americans play fantasy football each year, with many people not just stopping at one league, but participating in many to try and take home the championship. People play with their friends, family, co-workers, and teammates. There is quite a gender gap in in fantasy sports, with men making up about 75% of the participants, a number that has held steady since 2020. Fantasy players report watching 13+ hours of football a week, almost three times the rate of non-fantasy fans. It’s not a cheap hobby, with 25% of participants spending at least $100, and one estimate having people spending an annual average of $650 per participant! These fees cover things like league fees, draft kits, and subscriptions. The total US market is averaged somewhere between $13 and $30 BILLION dollars, depending on whether you include sites like DraftKings, which adds a lot of inflation. Globally fantasy football is an economy up to $45 billion, and it is expected to double by 2030.
The Process
It all starts with the draft, which usually occurs about 2 weeks before the NFL season. Whether in person or just on the app, teams take turns drafting players position by position to build their perfect fantasy lineup. Most leagues consist of the same lineup, 1 quarterback, 2 running backs, 2 receivers, 1 tight end, 1 flex (your choice of a WR, RB, or TE), a kicker, and a defense. You also have 7 bench slots for extra players.
Week by week, you play one other person in your league at a time. Whoever has the most points at the end of all the NFL games over the week wins. There are usually about 14 weeks, and your overall record decides your playoff seeding. The playoffs are usually from weeks 15-17, they are single elimination. After all this, finally, the winner of your league is decided. After this, you might think everyone forgets about fantasy football until next year, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
Winners and Losers…and Waffles
In most leagues, the winner of the league gets a prize, usually cash, but it could be anything, but most importantly, the loser of the league has to do a punishment decided before the season by the league’s players and commissioner. Some examples of punishments are the milk mile, where you have to drink a whole gallon of milk, then run a mile, 24 hours in a Waffle House, where you have to spend 24 full hours inside a Waffle House but, every waffle takes off an hour, or an open mic comedy performance, where the league’s members pick the dumbest jokes that the loser has to say in front of an audience of people. No matter what it is, the losers punishment is usually the most fun part of the season, unless you are the loser of course.
Now that you know everything there is to know about fantasy football, there is just one question left to ask, when are you starting your first league?
