Fantasy Football Trends
Pop Culture: Fantasy Football’s Allure Swells in 2024
Pastime Appeals to Surprisingly Diversified and Growing Fandom
We’ve come a long way from the days of traditional office football pools. Fantasy football’s popularity has soared in recent years, with over 29 million players participating in the fantasy sport in 2022.
Every autumn, during my childhood of the late ‘70s/early ‘80s, I would await my dad’s return home from his job at the lumber mill on Thursday afternoons. I would sit and listen for the dull engine “hummmm” of his white ’76 Ford pickup — a familiar signal of his imminent arrival.
Suddenly, the steady winding down of gears would reverberate through the otherwise tranquil suburban setting, as he turned down the street to our house. The dull, throaty rumble of the engine would slow and gradually soften as he turned the corner and emerged into full view.
Anticipation building, I’d race to the front door and be the first to greet him.
Passing by the large front window of our living room, with his lunch pail dangling from one hand and his coffee thermos clasped tightly in the other, he’d soon throw a shoulder into the front door and barrel on through, entering the house with purpose and bravado. After setting down his load, he’d next remove his timeworn, pockmarked silver hard hat — a steadfast survivor of many rough years in the mill — and set it up in its familiar place atop of the refrigerator.
Next, from his frayed flannel shirt pocket, he’d produce a creased-up sheet of paper, marked with a dozen or so NFL matchups for the week. It was the arrival of the weekly football pool — the highlight of my week!
Together, we’d circle our best guesses at the winning teams.
Later that weekend, if we were fortunate, we would be able to catch two or three games together on the old 19-inch Zenith color television. We watched with hopeful anticipation, eagerly hoping for results in our favor. The football pool transformed ordinary games that we might not have been interested in into thrilling events, adding an extra layer of excitement to our weekends.
This routine was typical in many households, like ours, before fantasy football became more popular with the rise of the internet and the Information Age. Now, every game most certainly matters!
While traditional football pools centered on team performances and outcomes, the increasing appeal of fantasy football today lies in the multifaceted performances of hundreds of individual players, making every game a point of interest. This is because these individual players might be on a fantasy team manager’s roster or on their opponent’s roster, making the potential implications nearly limitless from week to week over the course of a season.
Today, fantasy sports are integrated into almost every facet of the sports world, with NFL fantasy football reigning supreme.
Fantasy Football Basics
Fantasy football traces its roots back to about 1962. Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach, a California businessman and part-owner of the Oakland Raiders, is crediting with forming the very first fantasy football league in the United States. Pulling a couple friends together and developing some basic rules, they dubbed the league as the “Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League”.
The basic concept established in 1962 remains unchanged in today’s fantasy football leagues: as the fantasy team manager, you select real NFL players by drafting them onto your virtual team. Then, you track their individual statistical performances during their regular season games each week, earning points based on various achievements like touchdowns, yards gained, and receptions. One other option is earning “points per reception” or PPR, where each reception made by your players adds to your team’s score. All of these statistics are monitored by the fantasy football platform you’re using, so all you need to do is select your starting lineup each week, and then relax and watch.
Each week, a fantasy team can only start a limited number of players for each available position (known as “starters”). The rest of the team’s players are placed on the bench and do not contribute points during that week’s games. The decision of which players to start is based on the fantasy team manager’s assessment of their expected performance, considering factors such as real-life opponents, injuries, player production history, bye weeks (when some players aren’t playing) and other strategic considerations. This element of strategy adds depth and intrigue to the game, making it more engaging for participants.
A fantasy football team usually consists of a set number of players chosen through methods like drafting players in turns or bidding for them with imaginary salary caps. A starting lineup may consist of any number of players at several key positions, as determined by the league manager.
Typical positions for fantasy offensive players include: Quarterback (QB), Running Back (RB), Wide Receiver (WR), Tight End (TE) and Kicker (K). Defensive players are usually grouped into Defensive Line [Defensive Ends (DE) and Defensive Tackles (DT)], Defensive Backs [Cornerbacks (CB) and Safeties (S)] and Linebackers (LB). Some leagues simplify the defensive position by using entire team defenses as one collective unit, as the offensive side of the ball is typically more interesting to fantasy football managers.
Staying updated with player rankings and news from various fantasy football sources adds excitement to the game and maintains its relevance throughout the year. Experts continually evaluate and rank players as events (such as injuries and trades) unfold, helping fantasy team managers make informed decisions regarding player transactions.
Leagues usually consist of 10 or 12 teams, each managed by friends, family or co-workers who have joined your league. Each week, a predetermined schedule (usually randomly determined in advance by the host fantasy website) will pit two virtual teams against each other. The team whose starting players accumulate the most points in their games that week is declared the winner for the week. League standings are updated, and then the cycle starts again.
There are many variations of leagues that can be discussed, but most have “free agents” (players not drafted by anybody who can be picked up on a first-come, first served basis), waiver wires (where players who are “dropped” can be picked up by other team managers in a fair manner), and trades (where players are traded between fantasy teams throughout the season).
Some variations of fantasy football leagues include redraft leagues, where managers draft entirely new teams each year, and dynasty leagues, where managers can retain a certain number of players for multiple years. Another variation is a salary-based dynasty league, where managers are allocated a set amount of imaginary funds annually to spend on their players. During the draft, players are bid on, allowing any manager to acquire desired players, as long as they can afford the bid amount. I’m in this type of league, and it is my favorite format.
Most fantasy football leagues have a regular season that lasts 12 to 14 weeks, followed by playoffs among the top four teams in the final regular season standings. These four teams compete against each other over the final four weeks to determine the league champion.
While some leagues play for bragging rights, many offer a cash prize for the champion and a consolation prize for the runner-up. Additionally, many leagues have a trophy that is passed from champion to champion each year, adding to the fun and providing additional bragging rights.
Several popular fantasy football league hosting websites include ESPN Fantasy Games, CBSSportsline, and Yahoo, with ESPN being the most popular. Each of these sites provides comprehensive explanations of the game’s intricacies. Another site, Fantasypros, offers great insights for both newcomers and veteran fantasy footballers.
Growing Popularity
Fantasy football dramatically increased in popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s, due the the advent of the internet and the ability to automatically update statistics and scoring, as well as the improvement in overall management of fantasy teams in real time. Several other factors increased its popularity since then, including:
- NFL marketing and capitalization efforts, designed to promote the game during telecasts, helping to spread the word widely about its attractive social/entertainment value;
- media coverage from the major networks and the popular sports websites, which promoted fantasy sports by providing coverage, player analysis, and expert advice;
- Providing social interaction opportunities by bringing together various groups such as friends, co-workers, family members, and even strangers in a popular and enjoyable environment.
- Involvement in the individual aspects of the game, making it more interesting and entertaining as you become more familiar with players from all 32 NFL teams;
- More recently, the explosion and evolution of a number of podcasts and YouTube channels dedicated to covering fantasy football 24/7, year round.
You can enjoy fantasy football without being an expert in football rules or knowing everything about the game from the start. Websites automatically keep track of statistics, so the most challenging part is simply logging in to watch the results accumulate in real-time. Many participants actually learn more about football by joining these leagues and picking up knowledge “on the fly.”
Fantasy football is enjoyed by people from diverse demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds. Notably, women are increasingly participating and becoming just as enthusiastic as men about each year’s fantasy football draft day.
In fact, there is a concerted effort to expand the market through increasing the participation of women. In fantasy sports overall, the split is about 65% men, 35% women, according to the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association (FSGA). But the FSGA notes that the participation of women in fantasy sports has increased by 16% from 2022 to 2023.
Another statistic offered by the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) indicates the percentage of women playing fantasy football at 38% in 2023.
So, what’s the allure of fantasy football? For NFL fans, it adds excitement to almost every game, providing a rooting interest even if it’s just for specific players. For some, being part of a league with friends or coworkers fosters camaraderie. Additionally, there are households and couples who might not otherwise understand their partner’s NFL obsession, so they get involved in a fun way that allows them to engage and learn.
Parting Thoughts
Are you a fan of the NFL? Or do you feel left out of Monday morning fantasy football conversations and want to learn more about it? If so, I hope this article helps point you in the right direction to learn more about this increasingly popular form of fun and engaging social entertainment.
There are thousands of resources available on the web to help you get started, including many popular YouTube channels that cater to fantasy football fans year-round. Here are a few of my favorite YouTube channels you might enjoy if you decide to start your own team and join a league, or even start a league of your own. What are you waiting for? Grab some friends and start a league today!
