The Rise and Rise of Fantasy Football

Fantasy football began in the UK in 1971 but it wasn’t until the start of the Premier League era that fantasy football started to become a common term to football fans.

During the 1990s, I started playing fantasy football via The Telegraph which involved posting in your team selection and transfers, a concept that seems very foreign in today’s game with the evolution of online apps.

As of 2020, fantasy football is played by over 8.5M players over the four biggest platforms (Fantasy Premier League, Sun Dream Team, Sky Sports, Telegraph). FPL has a distinct dominance over the over three with over 7M players.

Importance of points over your teams win

The biggest change with fantasy football is not with the number of players but how important it has become to football fans.

This becomes most apparent when your own team loses but the loss is justified with how many fantasy points you got in the game.

I have witnessed an Arsenal fan accept a draw with Norwich because Pukki scored and was in their fantasy football team.

Is this acceptable in modern football?

The individual money that each player invests in entering leagues is becoming notable.

My personal investment in fantasy football for the 2019/20 season is £75. The money adds to the importance and is another reason why some football fans justify their fantasy points when the team they support suffers a loss.

The overall prize money via the big four platforms is substantial with the Sun Dream Team offering £100k and the FPL offering 7-night breaks with VIP trips to premier league games which are broken down in to yearly, monthly and weekly prizes.

The Future of Fantasy Football

I can only see the number of players rising in fantasy football and wouldn’t be surprised if the FPL hit 10M players within the next 3 years.

However, to see the continued rise, there will always need to be positive changes.

FPL has introduced new features over the past few years which have included a triple captain and free hits.

Could we see even bigger changes that may include other leagues?

I have always thought it would be interesting to play fantasy football for The Championship or La Liga — even if every player picks Messi in the La Liga version!

FPL is unlikely to move into this change but it could give the other three platforms a chance to close the gap on the number of players.

What do you think? Which leagues would you like to see incorporated? What features is the future of fantasy football crying out?

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