Fantasy Football: Why It's Not Just For the Boys!

August 06, 2017

Locker Room Socks, shop here.

Fantasy Football is not for the faint of heart, and definitely not just for the boys! It’s like any other game you might play with your friends: there is strategy, smack talk, and bragging rights to be won. Oh, and in some leagues, quite a bit of cash to be had!

You get to call the shots for your hypothetical team, which is a conglomeration of players you draft from every team in the league, and you get to play one of your friends every week. There are many little victories to be had and, just like in regular football, a Super Bowl to win! You probably can’t get Beyonce to perform at yours, but it’s the thought that counts.

There are entire television shows, such as Netflix’s “The League,” based on Fantasy Football, multiple magazine publications, apps, and more. There is an actual trade association for Fantasy Football called the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. It estimated in 2013 that 32 million Americans were not only playing FF, but were also spending $465 a year on it. That’s about $15 billion in circulation!

In 2015, IBISWorld conducted research that found Fantasy Football to be a $1.5 billion industry. Some leagues, such as DraftKings can pay out to $2 billion in prizes a year and other leagues pay out as much as $10 million a week to winners.

You may be thinking, “How is this not illegal? Isn’t this sports gambling?” Well, you’re almost right. Federal Law has deemed that fantasy sports are games of skill, which in America, is totally legal to win money from.

It’s a full enterprise in its own right, and can make watching the game even more fun. Used to, you would only really care if your own team was playing on the big screen. But because of Fantasy Football, you can now watch any game that’s on and have your own vested interest into how your players are doing. Some channels, such as the RedZone, will even give you live updates on fantasy stats. Don’t worry about tallying points on your own, there’s an app for that. There’s actually quite a few apps for that.

Leagues go all out over Fantasy Football. There are draft parties, watching parties, physical trophies, smack talk boards, t-shirts, the list goes on and on. So, get into it! Leave the boys at home and have yourself the ultimate girl’s night where you can drink some wine, watch the game, and raise a little hell with your friends over their draft mistakes and missed points.

The easiest place to start is to make your own league on the NFL’s official website! You can find that if you click here.