Every late August thousands of American football fans across the world go to a designated living room in front of computer screens and hold “fantasy drafts.” Depending on the competitive nature of said individuals it could end in arguments or just friendly rivalries. What are they doing? They are drafting their favorite players in hopes that they will put up tons of yardage and touchdowns to help their fantasy football team. Fantasy football is a phenomenon that has become increasingly popular since it started in 1962 by Oakland Raiders limited partner William Winkenbach, beat writer (and future Oakland GM) Scotty Stirling and Raiders PR Man Bill Tunnell on a team trip.

The rules are simple; in most leagues a user drafts a quarterback, two running backs, two receivers, a tight end, a defense and a kicker. Then you have a handful of bench slots for backups normally to account for bye weeks. Scoring is based on the amount of yardage that the players give, or the yards allowed by a defense.

Fantasy football has also been a cause of a slide in work productivity according to the Huffingtonpost.com. “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, $19.33 is the average hourly wage, so that comes out to $430.9 million per week lost, or $6.5 billion across a 15-week fantasy season,” Drew Guarini of the huffingtonpost.com said. But Guarini also said that while this is a staggering number, the firm behind the study, “Challenger, Gray & Christmas swear the effects of fantasy football are merely a blip on the economic radar, nothing the study is ‘non-scientific’ and ‘very rough.”

But why is it so popular? There are many reasons. One it has become a very popular mild form of gambling, fans will put in money and then have a jackpot at the end of the season. In fact, they can even place their bets on sites like https://www.sbobet-thai.com/reviews/icbc/. Another reason is it gives fans a reason to watch games, even if it isn’t their favorite team. A fan may be a Dallas Cowboy fan, but they may have Steeler’s quarterback Ben Roethlisberger playing, so if the games don’t come on at the same time they now have a reason to watch the Steelers, unless your just a football fan. While it may be too late to join this season, there’s no reason not to get a head start and keep track of the top playmakers around the league and get a head start on next season.

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Also please check out from around Buffs sports:

• Lady Buffs triumphs over the weekend

• Tyler Anderson has this weekend’s soccer action

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Men’s Soccer

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Women’s Soccer

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Matt Watkins has the results of the Wagon Wheel Game

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And Keltin Weins has the latest on the Saint’s bounty scandal