2010 Fantasy Football Guide by Lloyd Vance

Actress Jordan Zucker is ready for her Fantasy Football draft….Are you??

It is that time of the year again for everyone from the grocery store bag boy to celebrities, like actress Jordan Zucker, to ask the eternal questions “who should I take with my first pick of my fantasy football draft?” and “Has anyone seen the injury report for this week?”

What started out in 1962 as a wacky rotisserie football league by former Oakland Raiders part owner Bill Winkenbach and his friends Scott Stirling and Bill Tunnell has grown into its own subculture and is the passion of football fans and casual fans everywhere.  Fantasy football is now part of the fabric that ties everyone together and gets people watching the NFL — well at least the ticker at the bottom of the screen. “It started as a niche activity, and now it’s moved on to a mainstream passion,” said Chris Russo, senior vice president of new media and publishing for the National Football League in a recent article.

Fantasy football leagues are all about one upping your buddies, having fun watching games (every game counts now or at least the stats), talking trash, and allows fans to experience the highs and lows of “legalized gambling”.  The number of people involved in leagues are staggering with an estimated 30 million people in the U.S. and Canada. And a recent survey estimated that over $250 million dollars is spent on gaming services around fantasy sports.  The leagues also allow family and friends to stay in touch from far away – probably why Facebook now has a dedicated Fantasy Football page.

The majority of the players tend to lie within the marketing “Cash Cow” demographic of males between the ages of 25 and 54.  Their average household income also tends be higher too –- a reported $94,000 or more.  So everyone wants a piece of Fantasy Football and the stakes for players are getting higher as now women are joining the fray causing a Battle of the Sexes in this once male dominated world.  ESPN recently report that about 18 percent of the fantasy sports content on ESPN.com is consumed by women

The growth of fantasy football is so immense that now every major sports news outlet and website including NFL.com, ESPN.com, Yahoo.com and others have their own section and analysts dedicated solely to covering and analyzing America’s favorite new living room activity.  For my two cents, I believe the best website that keeps fantasy football economical and easy to run is CBS Sportsline.com — site has everything from breaking news, injuries, scoring, etc all tailored to your league. 

Now that we know some history and tidbits around fantasy football, let’s get to the Do’s and Don’ts of being a successful fantasy football player.  I am not saying I am the ultimate fantasy football guru, but I know enough to help you get through your draft and quite possibly bring home some hardware  in your league. 

By the way, that certain Seattle Seahawks receiver’s name that you are trying to put on the board is pronounced hoosh-mand-zaa-deh as in TJ Houshmandzadeh – “CHAMPIONSHIP”.

Some Good Fantasy Football Resources

CBS Sportsline — http://www.cbssportsline.com/

Fantasy Football Toolbox — http://www.fftoolbox.com/

Rotoworld — http://www.rotoworld.com/

Fantasy Football Librarian — www.fflibrarian.com

 

Lloyd Vance is a Sr. NFL Writer for Taking It to the House and Sports Journey Network , who is also an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)