Fantasy sports have become a large part of sports culture during the last decade, due of the birth of the Internet age.
In addition to the countless free public leagues, there are also private leagues which people pay to be a part of.
“It all started with an invite to my first league and I just got more and more into it,” Freshman Brian Sameshima said.
According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, the number of players has grown 7 to 10 percent a year during the past three years; it is estimated that 18 million people to be playing last year alone.
No longer considered a hobby, fantasy sports has seen its popularity expand because of major companies such as Yahoo, ESPN and CBS promoting their own leagues for it.
“I play on yahoo because it is the most accessible of all the leagues that are available,” Sameshima said.
Different types of leagues are provided for each sport with rotisserie, which is a season-long total of points deciding the winner. There is also head to head, where a team plays a different team each week, while the third type, being the most common, is where dedicated owners participate in dynasty or auction leagues.
Different strategies are used for each sport in order to achieve success.
“First, I like to research the players a little bit and get some expert analysis,” BJ Bensoua, relief pitcher for the Warriors, said. “I write my players on a paper in my order and bring that to the draft.”
Some people play in keeper leagues where they are able to retain a few players on their team from the previous season.
“I go after young and up-and-coming guys,” Adam Von Arx, assistant tennis coach, said. “After years of failure, I have come to realize that it is not a good strategy because young guys never perform the way you want them to.”
Common stereotypes of fantasy sports players are that they are social misfits; however, research indicates that this isn’t the case.
According to Fortune magazine, a one-year study found that fantasy owners were either mostly young athletes or married men, who were sports fans.
Fantasy sports have grown to be a phenomenon, becoming more associated with sports fans around the world.
With increasing publicity from major corporations, fantasy sports’ current trend of being fused with sports seems inevitable.
The fantasy revolution is now in full effect and looks to be here to stay throughout the Internet age, and will put a permanent mark on sports history.
“Fantasy sports has not yet reached its peak in the sporting world,” Bensoua said. “It will only continue to gain popularity as time goes on.”
