

Fantasy Football: The New Internet Porn - alifaziz
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_38/b4195081511463.htm?chan=magazine+channel_etc.

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Legion
I love fantasy football. I'm a real football fan first and foremost, but
fantasy football is great fun.

It does not take a lot of time to play fantasy football well, though. Some
junkies truly overanalyze to death. Their desire to find an edge is so great
that they latch onto some obscure little nugget and convince themselves that
it's the secret they need to win.

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nhebb
_Some junkies truly overanalyze to death._

I stopped playing it over 10 years ago because I was one of those guys. There
wasn't much info on the internet back then, so I had newspapers, magazines,
and Excel spreadsheets. I knew if was crap analysis, but sometimes letting
your OCD side run loose is fun in its own way.

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hugh3
I've never understood Fantasy Football, either the rules or the appeal.

Perhaps it's a chance for non-geeks to geek out about something in a socially
acceptable way? On the other hand, maybe it's just about having an excuse to
socially interact with your workmates in a non-work context?

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ben1040
_On the other hand, maybe it's just about having an excuse to socially
interact with your workmates in a non-work context?_

I have coworkers that I will go out to drink with and have over at my house on
weekends, and I have coworkers I don't associate with at all outside work
hours. Somewhere in between are the guys in my office fantasy football league.

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dailo10
I quit playing fantasy football a couple years ago and I haven't looked back.

I understand for some people, fantasy football gets them more into the
football game. But for me, I actually prefer to watch without such
distractions and perverse incentives.

Now when I watch football I can just enjoy the game itself. I root for a team
to score and win at the end, not certain players to score a TD or kick a FG.

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jrgnsd
Has this been monetized online in some way, or are most leagues run using a
spreadsheet with the money tucked under a mattress somewhere?

In SA we have sites like superbru, but thats mostly free. What I'm thinking
about is a site that manages not only the scoring and management of the
league, but also collecting the buy ins and doing the prize payouts. For a
small admin fee of course.

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vsprabhakara1
I recently did a bunch of research on this for my company Fanvibe. eMarketer,
a research firm, estimates fans spend $500mm on premium content about fantasy,
but the Fantasy Sports Trade Assoc. estimates the economic impact is about
$4bn - the difference being people gambling "under the table". Look at what
Fanduel is doing with regards to managing leagues and bets, and taking a cut.

