September 10th, 2020.
A date many have been waiting for since Super Bowl LIV in February. After going through many months without any sports to be streamed online, to all sports being broad casted at the same time, it became difficult for viewers to choose which sport to follow up on. One thing became certain during quarantine, sports are a huge part of American society. From golf to the UFC to the NFL, all are appreciated and were well missed.
Another fan favorite missed was the joy and friendly competition of Fantasy Football. Fantasy Football is a competition where those who participate select players from the league to be drafted to their team, and score points according to the actual performance of these players. It can be played on various platforms such as ESPN, Yahoo, NFL, and CBS. The participant uses their analytical skills, knowledge of the NFL and predictions to compete against their weekly opponent.
Participating in Fantasy Football could be completely free, or it could be played for some monetary advantage. When it was announced the NFL season would continue as usual, I just so happened to be working a private party at work. I witnessed a group of 10-15 wealthy individuals set up shop in a card room at the country club I work at. Each individual had detailed print outs of statistics of various players in the league, a laptop with private screens, and a few even brought fantasy gerus along with them. (Is that even legal?) With amazement I watched these gentleman and one woman go around the room one by one pitting against each other who they were going to draft. At the end of the draft, I found out this particular group was playing with a buy in of about $20,000 each. That’s almost half a million dollars for one fantasy league. It’s possible a few of these individuals are in multiple fantasy leagues.
Total fantasy contest revenue in Pennsylvania reached 25.87 million U.S. dollars in 2019, an increase of 70 percent in comparison to the previous year. DraftKings generated the highest amount of revenue, bringing in over 13.36 million U.S. dollars in the 2019 calendar year. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1089263/fantasy-sports-pennsylvania/#statisticContainer
What does the pandemic have to do with the story I just shared? Well, as you know, COVID impacted every single sport in one way or another. The NFL created a 71 page package of health and safety protocols. In this includes testing the players every day. Attendance at stadiums are to be decided individually, but all fans and coaches are required to wear masks. Players are still living at their own homes and travel with their teams. Being around their teammates requires each player to hold themselves accountable for making responsible decisions outside of the football facility.
Let’s say one player tests positive for COVID. They are then put into a quarantine period until they then test negative. They’re not contributing to the team and definitely not contributing to the fantasy league where they may be put as the starting running back, quarterback, etc. Just as the coaches have to adjust to the new lineup they are faced with, players of Fantasy Football are forced to make adjustments to their team that aren’t ideal. It’s similar as if their player had become injured. It’s out of their control. With millions of dollars at stake, let’s hope COVID will stay away from NFL players.
O'Shea Chronicles 