Even though most of us will never have the opportunity to own our own NFL franchise, fantasy football gives us the opportunity to manage a team as if we were real NFL General Managers.

Fans who participate in such leagues have the chance to win an incredible amount of money and draft their own players either through a Yahoo or ESPN online league. Money and entertainment is what seem to make these leagues so popular.

Even though some leagues may require a large buy in, up to one-thousand dollars, some leagues are free. But one must also take into account that the larger the buy in, the larger the potential payoff at the end of the season.

However, there are other alternatives to fantasy football leagues. While fantasy football leagues take course over a sixteen week period, competitive contests such as Draftkings and Fanduel only require commitment for daily games or weekly games for cash prizes. However Draftkings operates a bit differently, participants are given fifty-thousand dollars of salary cap to draft nine players: 1 Quarterback, 2 Running-backs, 3 Wide-receivers, 1 Tight-end, 1 Defensive team, and 1 flex player which can be either a wide-receiver, tight-end or running back.Since players are only selected for one game, trading players, or picking up free agents will not be allowed. Unlike fantasy football, Draftkings and Fanduel allow participants to choose from a variety of sports such as college football, NBA, NHL, and MLB, and their payout occurs almost immediately after the game. While some would consider Draftkings and Fanduel more convenient because of their short process, others prefer the realistic experience fantasy football provides for them to manage their team on a weekly basis for a sixteen week period, like the actual NFL.

The leagues take course over most of the NFL season or right before the Super Bowl. There are 12 teams, 4 of the 12 teams with the most wins enter the playoff bracket, the other 4 teams join a consolation bracket, and the remaining four teams are automatically eliminated due to their poor performance .

Fantasy Football requires the football fanatics to stay updated with the latest news around the NFL and all of its major reports such as injury reports on key players. According to Forbes.com, ever since the advent of fantasy football in 1999, participation rates have increased drastically. Today there are 30 million people participating each year- 6.4 million of which are women. An experienced player, Greg Lane, illustrates why fantasy football has become so popular. “The unpredictability of fantasy football is the greatest aspect, but also demoralizing someone’s morale with endless trash talk is quite fun as well,” said Lane.

Junior Jesus Vazquez, a five year participant, provided some insight into the tactics and strategies that make him successful. He said, “In order to win the league I had to remain vigilant on week – to – week stats on key players and made sure I benched certain players when they were facing a bye week.”

But how does one win games, you may ask.  In order to win a fantasy game you have to accrue as many points possible with your starting bench- 1 Quarterback, 3 Wide-receivers, 2 Running-backs, 1 Tight-end, 1 Kicker, 1 Defensive team- for that week. Week in and week out as certain players face different teams, the members of the league must decide which players will start each  week in order to produce points for them, either by choosing the most consistent players such as Tom Brady or by taking a risk and starting players who can possibly go off against weaker teams such as Julio Jones in week 1, who managed to rack up 26 points against the Eagles’ defensive unit.

Marc Gonzales, a senior and returning participant, said, “Every week is a gamble, you don’t know how certain players will perform that week. I try to avoid starting players who will face teams with strong defensive units because more times than not they fail to produce good amount of points.”

Since the league only allows a total of 15 (9 starters, 6 bench) spots for your roster, the person must draft his/her players wisely. The selection of the players you want on your team will take place at the beginning of the season. The commissioner set up the draft at the beginning of the season and gathers the money from each participant. Along with these roles, the commissioner should also ensure fairness and, most importantly, he should maintain active participation amongst the participants. Thirty minutes prior to the draft the commissioner has the option to allow the computer to randomly appoint each member of the league their specific order in which they will choose a player or to create a custom nomination order in which the participants themselves choose the order they wish to go.

As the draft rounds progress, the order in which the members choose a player is reversed so the member who had the last pick in round one will have the first pick in Round 2 and there are a total of 15 rounds.  The players chosen must only be offensive players- QB’s, RB’s, TE’s, WR’s and K’s. Since they are the only ones who can accumulate points depending on the yards they gained (25 yards passed = 1 point, 10 receiving yards= 1 point, 10 rushing yards = 1 point), touchdowns they scored (Pass TD= 4 points Rushing TD= 6 points), they can also be penalized if they commit turnovers – interceptions ( each interception= -1 point), fumbles ( each fumble lost = -2 points).  

Even though members cannot choose defensive players, they do have the luxury of choosing a defensive unit as a whole. For example, if a participant decides to draft the defensive unit for the Seattle Seahawks he will gain points depending on how well they performed that specific week, how many fumbles they forced (2 points), sacks (1 point), interceptions ( 2 points) and how many points they allowed the opposing team to score. The fewer points they allow, the more points they earn.

According to 6 year participant Jim Woody, “It’s all about the matchups and who your players are going against.”

But what if you get off to a bad start and you realize that some of the players you drafted are not producing enough? Players have the opportunity to act as if you were a real NFL General Manager. Leagues can either limit trading or have no restrictions on how many times you can trade, depending on the rules the commissioner established before the league was initiated. Members of the league can trade players with each other at their own convenience, but must make all trades before November 14, 2015.

This is when the person’s personal knowledge is needed to make the right choices and trade for the most efficient players in order to rack up wins every week and remain a contender for the grand prize at the end of the season. Apps such as, Yahoo! Fantasy, ESPN Fantasy, and CBS Fantasy,  have been made to make it easier for the participant to watch his team progress throughout the season.

Just like the NFL, by having all the teams perform to the best of their abilities to create a more exciting and competitive experience,  Fantasy Football also requires active participation from the contestants. Requiring a buy in,money, before entering the league may create a more competitive experience and will keep everybody committed to their team since they have something to win if they manage their team with success. While the dollars involved in fantasy football are far less, the pressure to perform is very real for the fantasy GMs.