The History Of Fantasy Sports Leagues

With millions of people now participating in fantasy sports leagues across North America, it’s interesting to take a look back at the various stages of its evolution across the decades. Technological advancements have certainly helped to organize leagues and find participants, but fantasy sports leagues have been around since the days where there was no Internet. How did it begin, and what were the big changes? Did the leagues begin simultaneously with every sport?

Actually, fantasy sports began with baseball, which makes sense if you consider the way baseball management and fans obsess over statistics. It was started in the sixties by American academics. In its first incarnation, players were selected at the beginning of the season and at season’s end the statistics were tallied and a winner was awarded based on which individuals group of players collectively achieved the ‘best’ results. This concept spread to football and quickly to others as well.

Its next stage was a fundamental shift. Rather than passively wait all year for the statistics to be tallied, in the eighties people began keeping track of the stats mid-season, making them more involved as spectators. This changed the experience of watching a game as fans now had a vested interest in particular players as well as their favorite team. This was a paradigm shift in the sports fantasy world, and by the late eighties businesses began facilitating fantasy sports by developing draft software and by tracking the statistics in various sports with unprecedented thoroughness.

Historically fans wanted to know much more than who won or lost at the end of year, as increased interest created a demand for daily updates.Now there was suddenly a new market of sports enthusiasts looking to get a competitive edge in their league by using new data that was never available in the past. Once upon a time vital statistics were transmitted to eager fantasy players via fax. As demand creates opportunity, publications dedicated to fantasy leagues and player results began to emerge. The demand for it grew, and this form of sports recreation was poised for explosion upon the arrival of new technology.

Expectedly, the rise of the Internet made fantasy sports leagues expand exponentially. Suddenly there was an easy format to host drafts, receive information, and track and trade players mid-season. It allowed for a wide range of possible rules and formats for drafts that each pool could decide on for themselves. At first the sites charged a premium for hosting the league, but the model changed and major sites began doing this for free, as they started charging advertisers and not fantasy league participants.

In roughly four decades, sport fantasy league participants have increased from the hundreds to the tens of millions. While many of those interested in their respective sports at this level could be considered fanatics, technology makes it easy to experiment with as a mild enthusiast, and this is how fantasy sports breed’s new fans. No longer a fringe activity, it has changed the way fans appreciate their favorite game in general, as there’s now a new stream and appreciation for statistics in every sport, not only in baseball and football, but in hockey, basketball, golf, and others. Sports fans shouldn’t take the growth of fantasy leagues for granted, and looking back offers an interesting view at how the activity they love developed.