About a year ago, I wrote about how important technology is to sport these days, not just for the game itself but also for fan enjoyment and interaction. One area of technology that I brought up was fantasy leagues.
Now as a big sports fan, I love to get involved in fantasy leagues! They’re a great chance to test – and improve – your knowledge of a league, and also a great opportunity to have banter and discussions with your friends and other people within your league. I know I’ve spent entire lunch breaks discussing the right fantasy line-up on a regular basis!
For those who have never done a fantasy league before, there are a number of different sites out there with slightly different rules, but the general idea is this: Friends join a league with each other and pick their individual teams using the players in the league. Each site will give a fantasy manager a starting budget and each real-life player has a cost, which will change over the season with fluctuations in form and the percentage of managers selecting them. Each gameweek, the selected players will earn points dependant on their real-life performance (points scored for goals, points lost for cards etc). Some leagues will put you 1v1 against someone else in your league with points for a victory similar to the actual league, whereas others will create a league table using each manager’s cumulative gameweek points.
After taking part in ESPN’s Fantasy 6 Nations for years, I’d always wanted to give one a go for the Premiership and by chance I found one last year on The Rugby Magazine! To say I loved it is an understatement as it is probably one of the deepest fantasy games I’ve done. To mimic the league, fantasy managers (you can call yourself pretty much any role in your club, from Director of Rugby to Head Chef!) are given a budget of £7 million, with which then can sign as many players as they want, provided they have at least 28 players and someone in each position. Each week, you must then pick a starting line-up and an 8-man bench (4 forwards, 4 backs), assigning players to the positions the game recognises them as playing (it’s generally quite forgiving in terms of a player’s versatility). Managers must then pick a captain for double points and a kicker, who will be the only person to gain points for kicks off the tee.
This year, like on the Premier League fantasy football, I have created a league and I’m putting out an open invitation for anyone who wants to join. Again, I’ve left this to the last minute (sorry) as I’m horribly unorganised. The first deadline is 19:30 on 31st August. This league is purely for fun and everyone is welcome, so feel free to invite your friends too!
Interested? The site can be found here and my league’s unique token is 429eb544c2c9
Eyes on the Ball 