What Are Fantasy Sports, Anyway?

Everybody knows what sports are. They have been around for a very long time, and they are one of the most common hobbies that people all around the world have. Of course, there are also professional sports, which, despite their popularity, keep getting more and more popular with each day. Where there are sports, there is of course, sports betting which is now easily accessible thanks to the Internet. We can now bet on our favorite games wherever we are, and bonus codes such as eFortuna cod promoțional make it even easier for us to bet on our favorite teams. However, the term that we often hear in bars, on the street, and even on the Internet more and more is fantasy sports. This may not be instantly clear to everyone who hears it for the first time. What are fantasy sports, anyway?

The concept of fantasy sports

Fantasy sports came to be as a response to avid sports fans who sought more involvement and enjoyment from their sports experience. Typically, they include fantasy teams, which are based on real players. The fantasy teams advance based on the scores of the players in real games. These scores are translated into points that fantasy teams use to compete against one another in fantasy leagues all around the world.

The history of fantasy sports

It is hard to say when exactly fantasy sports came to be, but it is safe to say that they came about some time after the Second World War. What we do know, however, is that first fantasy leagues were recorded in the sixties, with the first fantasy baseball league that was formed in 1960, and the first fantasy football league two years later, in 1962. The idea spread fast among universities in the US, and by the end of the 1980s, USA Today estimated that there were thousands of fantasy leagues all across the country. Fantasy leagues also started including other sports, and books and magazines about fantasy sports started to appear. What is more, they became so popular that in 1993, USA Today included a weekly report on fantasy leagues. This boom that fantasy sports experienced was only amplified by the arrival of the Internet.

Fantasy sports and the Internet

The Internet proved a good place for fantasy sports, because of its availability and versatility. One of the earliest fantasy sports sites was created in 1995, and it was estimated, that by 1997, more than 20 million Americans over the age of eighteen participated in some form of fantasy sports. It is safe to say that the Internet contributed greatly to spreading fantasy leagues all over the United States, as well as all over the world. Also, some fifteen years ago, daily fantasy contests also came to be, which are competitions between fantasy enthusiasts, but which involve shorter periods of time. These tournaments usually have a prize pool, and by 2015, they became very popular, receiving sponsorships and endorsements from various brands and companies. All of this has made fantasy sports a very lucrative business, as well as a very big industry, especially in North America, which was estimated at being worth just over $7 billion in 2016, with sports networks like ESPN and Fox Sports hosting weekly updates on fantasy leagues.