Fantasy sports leagues are basically groups of individuals or syndicates who create their own sports ”teams” by selecting a group of players who currently play in a real sports league and then compare certain player stats against each other to determine a “winner”.

For example, a fantasy player in an NFL league could select a running back from the Bengal’s, a quarterback from the Rams and a kicker from the Broncos.  At the end of the NFL weekend these players’ stats would be ranked against stats from players on other fantasy teams in the same league.  This process repeats itself throughout the season, and at the end of the year a winner is crowned.  There exist countless fantasy leagues for just about any sport, and a casual perusal of the internet can confirm this.  So if you want to get involved in a fantasy league just type in your favorite sport and “fantasy league” into any search engine and away you go.

Most fantasy leagues hold a draft at the beginning of each season.  Fantasy gamers then take turns selecting players for their teams until all rosters are complete.  Some leagues impose a salary cap on their participants in order to better simulate the real thing.  So if a fantasy player drafts a high-dollar star like Barry Bonds or Shaquille O’Neal he will little cash left over for other top shelf players.  This forces participants to seek out bargain athletes who perform well but are not overpaid.  Obviously salary cap leagues do not apply to college sports.

As any season grinds on real life players get hurt.  All fantasy leagues have provisions for this - usually a bench or alternative players.  Also, most leagues allow trades between players, and some even include a waiver wire.  Just about any situation that occurs in real life leagues can be simulated in a fantasy league.

Indeed the leagues themselves can vary greatly; from the small circle of friends sitting around a poker table drinking beer and tabulating stats in dog-eared notebooks to the vast internet competitions which include several thousand players who sift through complicated statistical resources and updates available online and then make up to the minute trades and substitutions.  Some of the larger internet leagues even offer cash or prizes to the lucky winners (and downloadable IRS forms as well).  These leagues almost always require entrance fees.

In the last few years fantasy sports leagues’ popularity has grown exponentially with the increased access to the internet which makes joining and maintaining these leagues very easy.  The leagues’ influence has grown as well – it was widely rumored several years ago that a pro football team placed a running back on injured reserve to satisfy the fantasy league community who, with the back on injured reserve, could search without penalty for another running back to bolster their rosters.

People from all walks of life participate in fantasy sports leagues.  All of these people have one thing in common – a shared love for the thrill of competition and elation that comes with following, and to a certain extent, participating in major sporting events.  For it is truly the fan that makes the game