European here. I have heard of the concept of fantasy football, but never quite gotten what is so appealing about it, how it works (you pick players from different teams?), and why grown (wo)men are willing to dedicate hours of their life to it. Please explain :).
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You build a team out of all the players in the league from every team, making what you think might be the best team that season.
Season goes on, your players performance in their games reflect on your fantasy team. As you go through the season with your team, you get more points than your buddies and win the fantasy season.
To a certain percentage of the United States, the NFL is similar to your country’s football leagues. Let’s say you like one particular team because they are from your hometown or you have always liked them. The teams one game comes on and you watch it, but you want to be more interested in the other games that do not feature your team.
Or in another instance, your team is extremely bad, the goalie allows every kick to score and you have no offense. Then just watching those games is miserable.
Fantasy football allows you to compete with a bunch of your buddies or even total strangers for money by using your knowledge of the sport to form an imaginary team that will score more points than the others in your league.
There are people who take it to an extreme, studying field conditions, etc. But most of us who play do it to just add to the participation in the sport and also trash talk your friends and compete with them. Of course there is also ways to gamble.
We do have that in Europe as well, Fantasy Premier League and Fantasy Champions League are particularly popular. It’s just a game.
The one thing that does seem different, is that at least from the media it seems that americans take it way more seriously. But it just might be an exaggeration
Fantasy sports, including baseball, basketball, American football, Soccer/football, etc. basically all work on the same principle. Before each season participants join leagues, say a group of 8 friends might form a league. The people in a given league participate in a draft where they take turns picking different players to fill out an imaginary team. Usually there are requirements or limits on how many players of each position they can choose.
Then during the season before each game the fantasy participants set their lineup. Participants are matched up with different opponents each week. The participants gain points based on the real performance of the sports players, not just points scored but other criteria such as yards gained, tackles made, etc. The participant whose “team” scores the most points is the winner.
Why do people do it? For fun, for money, to make games where the team they don’t usually root for more interesting, etc. There’s lots of reasons and it’s different for each person. It’s no different than any other hobby in that sense.
When you play fantasy football, you are interested in almost every NFL game because you or your opponent may have a player that’s playing. This is the entertainment factor of playing fantasy sports. This helps if your favorite team in real life is having a down season, then you have your fantasy team to keep you entertained for the season.
Fantasy sports is like skilled gambling where you are betting on probabilities. If you are able to look at historical stats, you can have a better fantasy team compared to your peers that has a greater probability of winning the championship.
If everyone in your league is skilled, then it typical just comes down to luck due to game script and injuries.
Fantasy football is much easier than other fantasy Sports, because games are only on Sunday with 1 game each in Thursday and Monday.
Fantasy football is a popular hobby and competitive game primarily in North America, but it has gained some traction in other parts of the world, including Europe. The appeal of fantasy football lies in several factors:
Competition and Strategy: Fantasy football allows participants to test their knowledge of the sport, player statistics, and their ability to strategize. You essentially become the manager of your own virtual football team, making decisions about which players to draft, start, and bench.
Social Interaction: It provides a platform for social interaction and friendly competition. Many people join leagues with friends, family, or coworkers, creating a sense of camaraderie and rivalry throughout the season.
Personal Investment: When you create a fantasy football team, you become emotionally invested in the performance of the players on your roster. This personal connection makes watching games more engaging, even if your favorite team isn’t playing.
Statistics and Analysis: Fantasy football enthusiasts often enjoy diving deep into player statistics, injury reports, and matchups. This analytical aspect can be intellectually stimulating for those who enjoy digging into data.
Here’s how it generally works:
Drafting: At the beginning of the season, participants in a fantasy football league take turns selecting real NFL players to build their fantasy team. The draft is a critical part of the game, and each participant aims to create a balanced team with strong players at various positions.
Scoring: During each NFL game week, your fantasy players earn points based on their real-world performance. For example, a touchdown by your quarterback earns you points, while turnovers result in deductions. Different fantasy leagues may use different scoring systems, so scoring can vary.
Managing Your Team: Throughout the season, you can make decisions about which players to start (put in your lineup) and which to bench. This involves assessing player matchups, injuries, and other factors to optimize your team’s performance.
Trading and Waivers: Some leagues allow trading of players with other team managers, and there are often waiver periods during which you can pick up new players who are not already on other teams. This adds a strategic element to the game.
Head-to-Head Matchups: In most fantasy football leagues, you compete against another team manager each week. The team with the most points at the end of the NFL game week wins the matchup.
Playoffs and Championships: Fantasy football leagues often have playoffs that mimic the NFL postseason. The teams with the best records face off in the playoffs, culminating in a championship game.
To add to what others have said – you pick players at different positions. Each player can generate points for your team based on achieving certain stats in a real-world game.
For example, a running back might earn points for every touchdown he gets, but might also earn points for every 10 yards he rushes, and might lose points for any turnovers he’s responsible for. Generally, you do not pick individual players on defense but rather a team’s defense, which earns points based on generating turnovers, defensive scoring, and limiting the opposing team to a certain amount of points/yards.
It has become a massive moneymaker over the past decade plus and is pushed heavily by the major sports networks.
Football is the most popular sport in the USA by a massive margin and there is a communal aspect to it as well for some. I loved away from my hometown 15 years ago but I’m still in the fantasy league my buddy’s and I started 20 years ago. Tons of work leagues as well.
In italy is famous with the name “Fantacalcio”. It’s so famous there is a dedicated section in the soccer newspapers. In the town near mine there’s a tournament and you can win a good amount of money. The game is easy: you do an auction at the start and in the middle of the season with all the soccer players of the all team of the actual season with a define amount of point decided from a soccer newspaper. Every week you have a match against your team opponent addind the vote of the players and who have the higher amount recieve 3 point and 1 point for draw.
Men make up the majority of players, but it’s popular among women too. My wife is in 3 leagues. The league we are in together has two other women. Her work league is 50% women.
Generally each fantasy team starts 1 quarterback, 2 running backs, 2 wide receivers, 1 tight end, 1 kicker, and 1 defense. Then you have 5 bench players. With there being 10-12 teams in each league. At the start of the season there is a draft and everyone fills there team. Then each week you pick which players you want to start and they are scored based on receptions, passing yard, rushing yards, etc. You play head to head each week and eventually there is a playoff.
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