Why Fantasy Sports are the Real Deal
In 1963, Wilfred Winkenbach and seven other men in the Oakland area put together the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Procrastinators League, in which they each drafted twenty players and were awarded money for plays including rushing touchdowns, receiving touchdowns, field goals and defensive touchdowns. In 1969, a version more similar to the style of fantasy sports that is played today, which awards performance points to players for making big plays and then totals the points up, was introduced at a sports bar by the name of King’s X in Oakland. Some people have become curious about fantasy sports since honestly, it’s really quite hard to avoid it. Imagine having 70% of your friends participate and talk about it and then you still have the internet shoving it to your face often with ads. Even if you are not into fantasy sports, you probably have an idea what it is already. Its popularity can be attributed to the internet and we all know everything in the internet can spread quickly. Going a day for an average male without being exposed to fantasy sports is quite impossible. To some people fantasy sports is an obsession. People have the possibility to own an all-star fantasy team and be a skilled fantasy manager in order to earn revenue. A few have already taken it as their profession a swell. There are several websites where one can join for free or with a fee and get to earn whenever his or her team wins. Fantasy sports unlike casino gambling is legal in the United States, saying that this is based on skill rather than luck and the prize doesn’t change no matter how many people joined in. With 27 million+ people hooked on fantasy sports, it’s no surprise that there’s a ton of money involved as well. One study found that the average fantasy sports player
spends $467.60 a year on fantasy sports, which translates into a total of $800 million spent on fantasy sports a year, and ultimately puts the impact of fantasy sports on the sports industry at $4.5 billion. We’re talking big money here so I wouldn’t be surprised with all the hype. So aside from just sitting your ass on a couch and watching your favorite sports on TV or going to the stadium, being a fantasy sports manager has a different level of involvement especially if your money is also involved. You get to feel a higher level of adrenaline and often times enjoy the game more.