Fantasy Leagues

Fantasy Leagues for Guys and Gals

Fantasy Leagues were made popular in the 1980's before mass access to the Internet was possible. The operation was time consuming and difficult because players had to calculate stats and follow real world players manually by keeping track of every competition, examining newspapers and so on. Additionally, keeping track of teammate's points could become complicated. Consequently, the number of individuals engaged in fantasy leagues was few.

Now that fantasy leagues have moved to the Internet with all the conveniences of automated calculations, fantasy leagues have attracted approximately 20 million participates annually. The average person engaging in some kind of league reports that they spend about 3-4 hours a week attending to their league or related activities.

It's true, ladies, the most common type of fantasy leagues are associated with sporting events, with football being the most popular. Fantasy football is followed by baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer with the rest of the sports trailing behind. The majority of fantasy sport league players are men between the ages of 18-40. However, sports leagues are also attractive to women who may find it a way to bond with their sports fan 'others' by showing an interest in games and players. Most women who participate in fantasy sports leagues tend to be upper middle class and in the same age range as the male participants.

Non-Sports Fantasy Leagues

For the girls (and guys) who are not into sports, alternative fantasy leagues are springing up all over the Internet. These include fashion leagues, music leagues, reality TV leagues, celebrity/tabloid leagues, etc. Each comes with some kind of incentive, whether it be prizes, cash winnings or bragging rights. These fantasy sports league spin-offs base success on factors such as search engine queries and offline media like TV and magazines. Here are a few popular ones:

• Fantasy Music League - puts you in the driver's seat of a multi-million dollar international record label, encompassing artists from all genres of music: pop, adult hits, country, urban and alternative. Your goal? Create a label that, based on real world chart movements, generates the most income possible. If your 10 artists earn more money than other Labels, you can share in $25,000 in cash and prizes.
• Fantasy Fashion League - focused on designers and the rich and famous who wear their apparel.
• Fantasy Celebrity League - bypasses the designers and places importance on celebrity attention and mentions in the media.
• Fantasy Congress - a league centered on politics. You can you draft politicians who receive scores based on their legislation, votes, news, election metrics and other measures. Participation is free and winners earn bragging rights.

Fantasy Leagues: What's the Motivation?

Although fantasy leagues are a multi-billion dollar industry, many are free to join. This is in part due to marketing strategy where advertisers have jumped at the opportunity to capitalize on the fantasy phenomenon. This has resulted in reduced registration fees or in some cases eliminated them altogether. Revenue has come not only from ads but also from products designed for players such as website 'add-ons', league management software and fantasy league accessories (trophies, rings, apparel).

People who play are motivated by several reasons including the chance to win prizes, the satisfaction of winning, the enjoyment of working with stats or purely for entertainment. Since participation in a fantasy league requires thinking and learning to successfully compete, for many, winning is an ego boost. And some lucky people have made money playing in fantasy sports leagues.

Also, many fantasy league sites offer members the opportunity to blog, set up a profile, and consequently make them feel that they are part of a community. So, in addition to the competition aspect of joining a fantasy league, it can also be a social arena with people who share common interests, or a place to virtually gather with family, friends and co-workers. Although playing at work may be viewed by the boss as a time waster, some employers actually see it as a stress reliever and/or morale booster if played on a limited basis.

A Dark Side of Fantasy Leagues?

Of course there are also some downsides to engaging in fantasy leagues. It can become a problem for some people because there is an element of gambling associated. Serious players can spend thousands of dollars creating a league which may never produce a return. Even when gambling is not a factor, fantasy leagues can interfere with life in the real world in the same way that many other electronic forms of entertainment have been accused of.

In addition, fantasy sports leagues are often criticized by die hard sports fans as destroying team loyalty. A fan who is engaged in a fantasy sports league is wagering on pro players across a number of different teams and will very likely have to support a player from a rival team in order to win the fantasy championship. And don't forget that there is always the disappointment of losing!

Do you play in a fantasy league? Tell us about it!