Fantasy Sports --- A Major Industry

Fantasy sports are games of fun played by men women and children of all ages. Yes I did say of all ages. I'm 50 and I am not the oldest player in the two local fantasy leagues I play (baseball and football). Fantasy games can be played in many different ways with different formats and can be played with many sports. I personally play fantasy baseball, football, hockey, and golf. I know there are many other sports such as basketball, auto racing, college football, college basketball, and soccer that have fantasy leagues. You know what? Fantasy sports has been around for ages, it seems. I have been playing for 21 years now in football and 20 years in baseball! I know for sure that fantasy sports has been around for longer than that.

But did you know that there is an organization that devotes itself to the fantasy sports industry? I sure didn't. This is no fly by night firm either. The organization I will speak of has been around since 1999 and has many major members, with a board of directors, special events, member benefits, a code of ethics, and even a Hall of Fame!

Welcome to Fantasy Sports Trade Association.

The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) has what I find to be a very well organized website with all the information needed to become a member, what they do, and it's history. According to the site, The FSTA is a forum in which many fantasy organizations interact to improve the fantasy sports industry. There are newsletters distributed to members, networking opportunities, and recognition awards.

The committees of the FSTA include membership, conference, public relations, awards, finance, Web, and research. Some of the notable members include Jeff Christiansen of Fantasy Football Toolbox (a favorite of mine), Howard Kamen of USA Today, Danielle MacLean of CBS Sports, Peter Schoenke of Rotowire.com, and Charlie Wiegert of Fanball. The main job of all committees is to oversee FSTA operations and keep its practice to better the fantasy sports industry.

The Code of Ethics is pretty straight forward --- Honesty, Integrity, Credibility, and Gambling. The gambling code states that no entity will be granted membership whose primary function fantasy sports gambling --- cut and dried.

There are 103 members of the FSTA including notables as the aforementioned CBS Sports, Rotowire.com, Fanball, USA Today, and Fantasy Football Toolbox. Other well known entities include Ron Shandler's Baseball HQ, Electronic Arts (EA), ESPN, FFToday.com, KFFL Inc, Rotoworld.com, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, STATS, Turner Sports, and Yahoo!. You may want to take a gander to see if any of your favorite fantasy sites are members.

That's just an overview of the FSTA...visit their Website for complete information.

There is also a well written article in the online version of U.S. News and World Report titled "The Reality of Fantasy Sports". Many of the leaders of the fantasy sports industry present their thoughts on what is a growing industry along with analysis of the future.

Enjoy!

Send email to dlafrance2@207me.com