Who's in your fantasy?

 

There have been several big things that have happened in sports in the last ten years.  There was Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals, Marion Jones admits to using performance drugs and has to give back 5 gold medals, and most recently the Big Three take over Miami.  Yet, some of the biggest happenings have taken place outside of the arena.  Check out this video to see some of them for yourself.  Personally, I think that the biggest move was the creation of Fantasy Leagues.

Unless you just crawled from under a rock, I’m sure you have heard of fantasy sports.  There is a fantasy league for just about every watchable sport. The most popular of course are football, baseball, and basketball.  Once thought to just be a fad, fantasy sports have become a way of life for some; so much so that FX has even created, “The League”, a show that revolves around the fantasy football culture .  It is pretty safe to say that fantasy leagues are here to stay and many are making money because of it.  It is one of the top sport’s business moves of the century. 

Think about it, people who are into fantasy leagues watch games that they normally would not watch just because they have a certain player on their roster.   In order to track each of their player’s stats, they may have to purchase the sports package from their cable provider.  DirectTV has a package that specifically targets the fantasy league enthusiast.  The other alternative is to go to a sports bar to watch the game, which brings in revenue to the local bars and pubs. 

Still not convinced, well get this; CBS SportsLine generated $15 million in sales from fantasy football customers in just one year.  CNN Money wrote an article about the huge obsession customers have with their leagues.  Apparently more than half of the fantasy sports owners spend over an hour a day just thinking about their teams. 

What’s the fascination you ask? Well, who doesn’t want to own their own professional team?  According to this article, people spend a huge amount of time constructing the perfect team so that they can rack up the points.  For many, it creates an escape from their everyday lives and suddenly they become the boss.  How many times have you watched Sports Center and thought, “If I were the manager, I would get rid of him”; I think that every time I watch…. Well, I’ll save that for another day.