Fantasy football (gridiron)
The competitors select their rosters by participating in a draft in which all relevant National Football League (NFL) players are available.
Fantasy points are awarded in weekly matchups based on the actual performances of football players in real-world competition.
The structure of these games has led some jurisdictions to characterize and regulate online fantasy contents as a form of gambling.
We've all snarled our share of "If I ran that team..." Now, thousands of fans have a way to display their coaching and general managing expertise—or lack of it.
In a New York City hotel room during a 1962 Raiders cross-country trip, Winkenbach, along with Raiders public relations employee Bill Tunnel and Oakland Tribune reporter Scotty Stirling, developed the rules that would eventually be the basis of modern fantasy football.
[7] In 1969, Andy Mousalimas, an original creator of GOPPPL and participant in the inaugural draft, brought the game to his Oakland sports bar, the King's X, where the first public fantasy football league was founded.
[5] From this point onward, the idea spread by word of mouth when the patrons of other Bay Area bars visited the King's X for trivia contests.
[12] A national fantasy football game, Pigskin Playoff, was launched in 1990 in a number of newspapers throughout the United States, including the Arizona Republic,[13] the Detroit Free Press,[14] the Los Angeles Times,[15] and the Miami Herald.
[16] Players chose their teams by calling a toll-free phone number and entering four-digit codes for each of their selections.
Pigskin Playoff served as an early version of today's daily fantasy football by rewarding each week's highest-scoring participant with a trip to Hawaii.
[13] In 1997, CBS launched an online fantasy football competition, with other sports networks and websites quickly following suit.
[19] On May 27, 2022, Cincinnati Reds player Tommy Pham slapped Joc Pederson of the San Francisco Giants in the face prior to a game; he would later receive a three-game suspension and a $5,000 fine.
Often, owners who are not present at the chosen time of the draft will "auto-draft" while the rest of the league makes their selections live.
Fantasy football websites routinely release projections for the number of points each player will score during an upcoming season.
The following is a standard starting lineup configuration and is used as the default setting on NFL.com,[44] ESPN,[45] and Yahoo[46] except where noted: There exist numerous possible variants of the traditional roster alignment.
This means that, for example, each real-life yard gained or touchdown scored correlates to a certain number of fantasy points.
As the game matured and moved online, tracking yardage became easier and more sophisticated scoring configurations were adopted.
[48] NFL.com also allows players to earn points in statistical categories that are not traditionally a part of fantasy scoring, such as pass attempts or yards gained on kickoff and punt returns.
[49] Sleeper offers similar customization options, but also allows the commissioner to adjust the number points awarded from a reception based on position.
[19] A 2023 FSGA survey found that 64% of fantasy sports players were male, 48% were between the ages of 18 and 34, and 84% had a college degree or higher.
[53] Daily fantasy platforms, such as FanDuel, manage games with thousands of players and collect a percentage of each entry fee before distributing winnings.
In 2012, an estimated $1.67 billion was spent on fantasy sports in the United States and Canada, not including league entry fees.
[56] Though difficult to quantify, revenue generated by ads on fantasy football programming is estimated at $2 to $5 billion annually.
Fantasy-specific escrow companies, such as LeagueSafe, may hold league entry fees in secure accounts until the end of the season.
Both leagues were created by figures associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and counted numerous actors, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Tom Holland, as members.
[82] The NFL entered into a reported five-year, $600 million deal with Sprint in 2006 that was driven at least in part by fantasy sports, allowing subscribers to draft and monitor their teams using their cellphones.
In 2006, then-Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer told ESPN, "I think it's ruined the game" due to fan allegiance shifting away from teams and towards individual player performance.
[85] Then-New York Giants running back Tiki Barber said that "in a game solely designed around the team concept, it's nice to have some individual recognition every now and then.
[89] David Chao said that when he was team doctor for the San Diego Chargers, "The first 10 to 12 years, I would be asked 'Is LT (LaDainian Tomlinson) healthy?'
[94] However, according to John Challenger, an executive at a research firm that produces an annual report on the subject, measuring the precise impact of fantasy football on employers is difficult because "there is no way to determine how many people are managing their teams from work or how long they are spending on these activities.
