In my last blog, I talked about the evolution of football and how large of an impact it has had. Football has grown into a money-making powerhouse, and has become an integral part of American, both socially and economically. However, one thing that has grown tremendously in recent years as a result of football is fantasy football.

   Fantasy football is a game where real life people essentially “draft” real-life players from the National Football League (NFL) to form fake teams. These fake teams then face each other weekly just like the NFL teams, gaining points based off of how the players perform in real life. These fantasy teams play full seasons just like the NFL teams, with a playoff system including a championship game.

  This game known as fantasy football was created in a very odd place. In 1962, at New York City’s Milford Plaza Hotel, Wilfred “Bill” Winkenbach created the rules for fantasy football with the help of Bill Tunnell and Scotty Stirling. Winkenbach, who owned a financial stake with the Oakland Raiders football team, had already invented fantasy games involving golf and baseball in the 1950’s that helped paved a way for the creation of fantasy football. The world’s first fantasy football league, the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League, had 8 teams assembled by the founders and friends at the Tribune and the Raiders.

  Since its creation, fantasy football has grown to over 33,000,000 players, with me being one of those players. I currently am involved in 4 fantasy football leagues, and I plan on continuing playing as it keeps me interested in the sports of football. Overall, fantasy football has become a major part of American society.