As I sit back and edit my Yahoo Fantasy Basketball roster, scroll through the free agent player listing to see who is available for pickup, analyze numerous player game logs, team schedules and click through the roster list for each manager in my league to see who I can trade with to beef up my team I wonder to myself this: Why are Fantasy Sports so addictive and why do I (and countless others worldwide) spend so much time glued to our screens in the pursuit of Fantasy Sport greatness?
To sports fans, I believe Fantasy Sports is an extension of our interest in professional sports and to fulfil our dream of owning and managing our own sports team turned into reality. Where else does one get the chance to draft their own ideal or "dream" team and face-off against other team managers? Or can it be because we, as humans, have a desire to feel like we're part of something, part of a team, wanting to belong and to share in similar interests with others? Fantasy Sports allows us to do that too as we compete with other managers (in leagues of varying degrees of competitiveness) with friends, family and co-workers. Or is it simply to satisfy our desire to win (for bragging rights or for money), to be good at something and for the right to call yourself the "champ"?
Believe it or not, Fantasy Sports has roots dating back to the 1960s although popularity of the "hobby" didn't begin until the late 1990s, driven by the Internet boom, with the participation rate growing to 30 million. As of 2012, approximately 40 million people worldwide were managing fantasy rosters having an estimated $5 billion annual economic impact on the sports industry. Fantasy Sports has grown into such prominance that there are now dedicated TV channels, websites and commentators devoted to helping you pick and draft the best players, analyze proposed trade offers and manage your team on a week-to-week basis. Websites like Rotoworld.com are now commonplace with the goal of helping managers better there team (not to mention their own wallets).
The "hobby" has grown into such popularity that some are even making a sizable six figure living off of it. Check out the link below:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/dream-job-fantasy-sports-players-turning-game-into-six-figure-career/
One can only hope ... Till then, I'll be keeping my day job ...
To sports fans, I believe Fantasy Sports is an extension of our interest in professional sports and to fulfil our dream of owning and managing our own sports team turned into reality. Where else does one get the chance to draft their own ideal or "dream" team and face-off against other team managers? Or can it be because we, as humans, have a desire to feel like we're part of something, part of a team, wanting to belong and to share in similar interests with others? Fantasy Sports allows us to do that too as we compete with other managers (in leagues of varying degrees of competitiveness) with friends, family and co-workers. Or is it simply to satisfy our desire to win (for bragging rights or for money), to be good at something and for the right to call yourself the "champ"?
Believe it or not, Fantasy Sports has roots dating back to the 1960s although popularity of the "hobby" didn't begin until the late 1990s, driven by the Internet boom, with the participation rate growing to 30 million. As of 2012, approximately 40 million people worldwide were managing fantasy rosters having an estimated $5 billion annual economic impact on the sports industry. Fantasy Sports has grown into such prominance that there are now dedicated TV channels, websites and commentators devoted to helping you pick and draft the best players, analyze proposed trade offers and manage your team on a week-to-week basis. Websites like Rotoworld.com are now commonplace with the goal of helping managers better there team (not to mention their own wallets).
The "hobby" has grown into such popularity that some are even making a sizable six figure living off of it. Check out the link below:
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/10/dream-job-fantasy-sports-players-turning-game-into-six-figure-career/
One can only hope ... Till then, I'll be keeping my day job ...
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