For some reason this morning I woke up saying to myself (I talk to myself quite a bit), ”I wonder how much money is involved with fantasy sports on an annual basis”. As I enjoyed my cup of coffee I figured I might as well do some research to see where this ‘fantasy’ thing is headed. Those thoughts lead me to google MLB vs NFL just to see which sport brought the largest fantasy audience. I came across this article.
So what’s next? Ambrosius says new technology for fantasy sports is “right down the pipe,” with interactive TV capable of fully integrating a couch potato’s fantasy stats in real time. “You will be able to see the live scoring of fantasy on the left-hand side of the screen while you’re watching the game,” he says. “The growth is certainly not at its peak.”
I see this as a great idea, however, unless we all play in the same fantasy league with the exact same scoring, then this will be a challenging task to accomplish and remain convenient to all types of fantasy league owners. If that were the case, this type of scoring system would add no flexibility to the game that we (fantasy addicts) created. We want the flexibilty and variety of scoring systems to choose from outside of our customary leagues.
Here are some thoughts on what’s next. Someday people will have the option of playing in a league of their choice on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Using a global market the fantasy owner will have a multitude of other owners to compete against and perhaps obtain the ultimate bragging rights. With that in mind, I see fantasy sports growing to heights unimaginable to us fantasy ‘geeks’. I also believe that those who at one time were never interested in playing, will begin showing a greater interest than those of us who have played for many years. This is why fantasy sports is the next big internet industry. What better time to increase the action and fan interest than now. With the popularity of NFL network, a consistent interest in MLB, the growth of soccer througout the world, and an ever increasing worldly interest in the NBA, I see no reason to believe that ‘fantasy’ in every sport has a potential that far exceeds any other internet sensation. For this reason your average fan and casual fantasy owner will want to continue to increase their amount of knowledge of various sports, draft strategies, and prepare for a competitive, yet fun way to participate in worldwide fantasy leagues. I believe the days are long gone where only a group of friends play in an annual league with one or two winners at the end of a tedious season. I can envision fantasy sports continuing to make unbelievable strides involving the internet.
Well fantasy sports are popular because guys try to re-live their high school glory days vicariously through modern day pro stars. the normal fantasy fan is a typical monday morning QB that doesnt have a clue about how the game is played. They critique coaches, players, playcalling, as if any of these guys have had their JOB on the line based on one decision. unfortunately or fortunately Fantasy lovers are growing by leaps and bounds. Couch Potato’s and wanna be’s that never were.
We still have seen a fantasy league for the WNBA or Arean football. Let’s hope we never do!