Although most people have heard of fantasy sports, millions of people actually play it. But you may be one of the few who has no idea what it really is, and that’s why we’re here today – to help you out in understanding the fantasy sports mania.
You may know that it involves putting together virtual teams that are based on real players. And then that you judge the performance on those imaginary teams based on how the real players do on the field. Sure, that’s the basics of it.
The entire thing began as a fun game that used to be played among friends. But nowadays, it’s turned into a multi-billion-dollar industry that even has influence on actual sports. And how it works is, the fans pick their favorite players in an online selection process, also known as a draft, in order to assemble a fantasy team. Then, the real-game statistics of those players are compiled and compared in order to see whose fantasy sports team has done the best job.
Since it involves payments and rewards, some deem it on par with actual sports betting, while others claim that fantasy sports require more skill than luck.
There are countless websites where people can track how their fantasy team is doing.
Some people even try joining leagues with their friends and compete against people they know, while others join public leagues and compete against strangers. Currently, there are around 56 million people who play fantasy sports in the USA alone. This means that the industry of fantasy sports actually brings in about $1.5 billion per year in revenue.
If you’re someone who’s wondering why this business is so popular among people, the reason is because the fans that follow the real sporting events actually feel like they have a real stake in the performance of their chosen players and teams. And since there is an entry fee that they need to pay to play, having money on the line means that there is an even bigger desire to win.
Check out the infographic below for the worldwide impact of fantasy sports:
