Fantasy Football, what is it?
Sport Source Bob chiming in. Today I would love to blog about Fantasy Football (FF). FF is a competition in which participants select imaginary teams from among the players in a league and score points according to the actual performance of their players. This allow fans to feel more connected to their favorite teams and players, as they get to “manage” their virtual team. This leads to increased engagement with the league and its teams.
Fantasy football … That thing everyone talks about around the water cooler. Fantasy football is a game in which the participants serve as owners and general managers of virtual professional American football teams. I've been participating in this beautiful creature since the early 2010's, and I haven't looked back. It has expanded my knowledge of different players tenfold. I've gone from watching and following only about my favorite sports team, to following every single morsel about the NFL I can find. There are few things I find as exciting as competing against your friends, coworkers, or some random casuals. To start, you draft a team made up of NFL players and based on their on-field performance in a given week, you score a set amount of points. In example, if you selected Bills QB Josh Allen, and he darts a touchdown to Stefon Diggs, you earn points. By the grace of the Football Gods, if you also have Diggs on your team, you're cashing out on double the touchdown points. Add all your points up from your team's starting positions(QB, RB, WR, TE, DEF, Kickers, and sometimes IDP) and compare with whoever you're currently playing against. The winner with more points earns a nice W, and a step closer to Fantasy Football glory.
In addition to drafts at the start of the season, there are also auction leagues. If that sounds interesting, I would look into how this is done(usually with a set amount of fantasy $$, and you bid on players), or follow up on my next few blogs. As the game has grown, the complexity has grown along with it. But at the end of the day, your team competes in a league typically composed of 10 or 12 teams(I've seen leagues with more though). Each week, you go head-to-head against a different team. If a player is not performing as expected, you can release him to a waiver wire. This is similar to the NFL. You can also trade with other teams, to see if you can improve your roster. You can also scour that waiver wire in search of a gem, and add them to your team.
Just like the NFL, your league has a postseason. The fantasy playoffs are usually played from Weeks 14-16. sometimes 15-17 now as the NFL added a week 18. Usually, the FF Super bowl being held on week 16 or 17. This is because most teams will be sitting there best players week 18, if they are play off bound. This can hurt an Fantasy Football General Manager, as they wont have some key players available for the big game. In the final week, a champion is crowned! You can play for fun, you can play for money.
My next upcoming blog, I will be discussing the type of leagues. Being Redraft, Keeper, and Dynasty leagues. Stay tuned and thanks for dropping by Sportingbuzz.com!