The term fantasy sports has been around for quite some time. It has gathered some level of popularity, but the truth is that not many people know much about it.
Some months ago, I had asked some friends what they know about fantasy sports, and they all gave me a weird kind of look. They were all making guesses at what it is and how they haven’t given it their time to check.
Whether my friends like it or not, fantasy sport has come to stick around for a long time, and I think we should all know what it’s all about and probably check out how it’s played.
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What is Fantasy Sports Anyway?
To understand the concept, let’s refer back to an age-long practice. Have you ever drawn some players on a piece of paper as a kid? When you did, you tried to give them some positions and assigned imaginary roles to them, right? You also moved them around with your sticks and even gave them commands, hoping they would hear you.
You see, you may have played the old-fashioned fantasy sports without knowing. But let’s look at fantasy sports in the real sense and the modern form of it.
A fantasy sport is a type of game where the members pull nonexistent teams together (it could be on paper, or utilizing baseball or ball cards) using genuine players from alternate pro teams. Along these lines, for a dream English Premier League fantasy team (soccer), you could have one defender from Leeds United, a goalkeeper from Manchester United, and a mid-defender from Arsenal Football Club, and so on.
In this case, everyone else in league with you does the same thing to manage their respective teams to victory. There are many ways of determining the winners. Points are awarded based on the number of saves the goalie makes in a match, the number of goals a striker pulls off, the number of assists from a playmaker, etc. In the end, whichever team accumulates the highest point wins the league.
How Does Fantasy Sport Work?
The way fantasy sports work baffles a lot of people. Let me break it down a little bit. In fantasy sports, there is room for you to make your team selection. This process is called a draft. In selecting your players, you’d assume that your selection includes the best players that can give you’re the maximum point from the league. Every week, statistics from your virtual team and the real player performance in real-world are compared. If their performances and in sync, you are good to go with enough points.
These days, things are made more accessible through apps and websites. For instance, the fantasy premier league works with a mobile app and on their websites. You can track the statistics of your players and record their performances through these channels.
To make things more fun, there are two kinds of teams one can compete with in fantasy sports. You can compete with your friends or with the public, that is, total strangers worldwide. All you need is your data, your device, and internet connectivity.
List of Popular Fantasy Sports
1. Daily Fantasy Sports
This is a type of fantasy sports where contests are concluded within days or hours without waiting for the end of the season. Like typical fantasy sports, participants get to assemble their team and guide them to victory. Daily fantasy sport goes well with people who are into sports betting as they place their bets and get an immediate reward for it.
2. Fantasy Football (Gridiron)
Fantasy football (gridiron) is a game in which the participants curates virtual professional American football teams and serve as their managers. he contenders select their lists by partaking in a draft wherein all-important NFL players are accessible. points are accumulated based on the performances of the teams. The game ordinarily includes the National Football League, yet can likewise include Canadian Football League, or college football.
ALSO SEE: Top-20 Greatest NFL Players Of All-Time
3. Fantasy Baseball
Fantasy baseball, just like every other fantasy sports, is a game where people manage their baseball teams in leagues. This is usually online, using imaginary players. Like the standard fantasy sports, participants get to assemble their team and guide them to victory.
There are two primary ways of playing fantasy baseball. One is the head-to-head method, where individuals play against each other every week until the end of the season. Under this format, each team with the highest point wins the league at the end of the season.
Another style is called rotisserie. This is a method where the points accumulated by the players from each group are ranked by category and the team with the highest total points is ranked highest.
4. Fantasy Hockey
Fantasy hockey shares the same principle with other fantasy games. Participants also select teams and organize them in a way that will enable them amass enough points at the end of the tournament. These teams are based on the realities of the National Hockey League. Usually, fantasy hockey is made up of eight to twelve teams competing among each other. However, in some cases, depending the platform one is playing, it can contain more.
5. Fantasy Auto Racing
Fantasy auto racing is based on sports like formula one and other racing sports. Like every other fantasy sports, you get to build your dream team and compete with other teams.
Factors such as car wreck, mechanical faults can impact the outcome of your race. So in many cases, luck plays a massive role in the outcome of this fantasy game. For those who are new to fantasy sports, this is an easier way to commence the journey.
6. Fantasy Basketball
In fantasy basketball, you need to assemble your players from the National Basketball Association to earn a good point from the players. The points determine the losers or winners of the game, which could either be daily or weekly. To get the best out of your players, you’d need to consider their performances. Just like every other fantasy sport, the game follows similar principles like other fantasy sport.
7. Fantasy Cricket
The basic principles of every fantasy sport also apply to cricket. The same way you draft your team according to their performances in other fantasy sports is how you go about cricket.
Cricket may not be as popular as Basketball when it comes to fantasy sports, but it’s gradually gathering waves. With websites like Dream11 and Game of Guru, cricket lovers can easily play their fantasy cricket, follow trends, and express their passion for the game.
8. Fantasy Football (Soccer)
Popularly known as fantasy soccer in the United States, this is a game where the members assemble imaginary soccer players who are just virtual representations of their real-life counterparts. As the game wears on, statistics of the players are gathered based on their performances. The greater their performance, the higher your points. Usually, points are awarded, goals, assists, clean sheets, and saves.
Usually, most fantasy football leagues mandate participants to make a selection of 11 players within a definite budget. Some selections are squad-based, while some are based on the regular first 11 soccer players.
9. Fantasy Golf
Fantasy golf is a game where the members gather a group of real golf players virtually and afterward score points based on their performance. The Games regularly follow the US PGA Tour and the European Tour.
- Fantasy sports stock simulations
- Fantasy professional wrestling
- Fantasy congress.
Hope this post has covered some important aspects of fantasy sports. Still, got some questions to ask? Feel free to use the comment section.