The new NFL season starts this weekend, which means another round of fantasy football is about to start.
Here in Europe, we’re not that clued up on the ins and outs of the NFL and American football in general, preferring to stick to the traditional game played by cannibals and prima donnas.
Nevertheless, it’s interesting to note that there is growing interest in American football in Europe, with regular-season games having been hosted in London since 2007 and a total of 45,000 registered players in Germany; and there is a significant financial side to speculation on the outcome of matches, both in regular play and in fantasy football leagues.
In fact, at least one calculated estimates puts the annual US fantasy sports industry at a very respectable $4 billion dollars. Bearing in mind that the Nevada sportsbooks as a whole generate only $3 billion, and you can see that it’s one possible gambling activity that could see a huge area of growth in the future.
What’s the catch?
The major problem, of course, is the heavily regulated US gambling industry. As you know, there’s been limited access to online casinos and gambling since the infamous Black Friday of 2011, where online poker providers including PokerStars had their websites seized and takedown notices issued.
Sports betting has long been even more closely regulated, falling foul of the Wire Act of 1961, which basically says that anybody who uses long-distance, interstate or international communications to place “bets or wagers on any sporting event or contest” can be fined or imprisoned.
There’s another law passed more recently, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, that restricts online gambling or betting — more specifically, “risking something of value on the outcome of a contest, sports event, or a game subject to chance.” In fact, it was this law under which the big poker companies were nailed, as they tried to disguise the way they processed payments.
How do players get around this?
However, there are 2 problems with this. Firstly, the US Justice Department itself has said that regular online gambling does not fall under the auspices of this act, and they’ve largely left it to the states themselves to regulate. Nevada, thus far, is the only state to issue a license to a new online casino, but Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and several Southern states are looking at ways of regulating the market.
Secondly, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act specifically excludes fantasy leagues, which, some players argue, would anyway not be “games subject to chance” as they require predictions based on past skill and performance.
And let’s face it, following statistics, sports, and matches to such an extent that you can accurately predict who’s going to play how and when is a skill. In fact, it’s the same sort of skill used by traders on the stock market, except we’re talking about athletes and not stocks.
Where to from here?
Whatever the case, one thing is clear: the rise of the internet over the last 15 or so years has transformed fantasy sports leagues in ways that were unimaginable before. Previously only the preserve of die-hard sports nerds, fantasy leagues are now a popular pastime for friends who want to wager a little bit on the results of the season. And, it would appear, it’s not so little either. Let’s face it, $4 billion is nothing to sniff at.
And after all, isn’t that the thing about sport anyway? That it brings people together, lets friends share common interests and common passions, and brings in a huge amount of money? Online fantasy football (or American football) leagues are just a new way of getting the fans even more involved in their favorite games, with all the benefits that that brings. And if you win something out of it, well, good luck to you.
So, whatever you think, let’s get ready for another big, and I’d say exciting, season of football (and American football) (and rugby). The year’s not finished yet, and we’re all excited for some hard-hitting matches, as well as some hard-hitting sports journalism, more on which will be revealed at the beginning of next week…