Intro To Fantasy Football Teams|Drafts|Leagues|Facts

Fantasy Football, are you ready to play? Well if you are like me, you may need to know exactly what Fantasy Football is before you can be ready to play. Being a somewhat casual sports fan, watching some games on TV and catching some scores and stats online, I never thought of actually being able to attend an NFL game much less the Super Bowl. But my family and I still like being a part of the excitement that comes with a favorite team or player winning.

As we were watching the game on Sunday a few weeks ago, I noticed this scroll across the bottom of the screen with something about fantasy football and then remembered I had seen ads online as well. Never really knew what it was but we started talking about it, so I figured why not do a little research so I at least knew what we were discussing.

Evidently, there are other sports games that are part of the fantasy sports world, but I mainly researched fantasy football. It is actually a sports game for those avid football fans that want to be part of football fever year round. Besides following the actual games, participants can become owners, managers or run their own "fantasy football team."  There are fantasy football leagues for both the NFL and NCAA, you start when the real season starts and scores for fantasy football are  When the real football season starts - and it can be the NFL or a division of the NCAA or some other league - scores in the fantasy football leagues are decided from actual statistics from real teams and players.

You might just be surprised to find out that Fantasy Football is not a new idea at all, it goes back almost fifty years. It turns out someone from the Oakland Raiders camp along with a collection of sports writers and editors put together this idea. It was pretty slow getting the idea off the ground without the use of technology though, they were actually able to form the first league and keep it going.

When home computers became available and then the magic of the internet, it exploded into a huge business. With the popularity of Fantasy Football growing at such a rapid rate, it was not hard to convince the TV networks to promote it and get advertisers behind it. After all, fantasy football fans are watching more games, buying more tickets, and spending more on their sport than average fans.

Sounds complicated, so how does it all work? This takes reality TV to whole new level. Suddenly you aren't just watching the big game on Sunday, you are becoming part of the game. First you have to join a league, then you pick a team, draft players, and follow the rules. Besides following the rules you also have to observe salary caps and negotiate contracts. Remember this is all fictional but if you are a franchise owner, you may be required to pay taxes, as well as trade players.

As in the real football leagues you will also want to win games and carry your team to the championship. If you are good you will not only win but you can establish football dynasties and maybe even get into the Hall of Fame. This is a highly competitive game but it introduces you to others with all the same interests and can either lead to great friendships or maybe arch rivals.

Since scoring of Fantasy football games are determined by the stats of real players on real teams, it can get pretty complicated. Fantasy football also has just as many rules, so you have to really be committed to your team or league.

A fantasy franchise owner really has to keep up with which real team to cheer for since fantasy league teams have players from a number of different real teams. Choosing which players to draft is very important since your fantasy teams success relies on how well these players do on their real teams.

Are you with me so far? If you think you want to become part of this addictive pastime, Fantasy football information can be found all over the internet. Do a little research, find out about the different leagues out there and which one you might want to become part of. Then all that's left is to sign up and become a team owner. Remember there are several leagues out there included both the NFL and NCAA, they are some better suited for beginners and others for those who already know their way around the world of "Fantasy Football" the teams, leagues and draft. So look around and most of all have fun!