The NFL’s regular season is still a ways off yet as it’s scheduled to kick off on Thursday, 9 September with Super Bowl champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers getting things underway on home turf at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
For NFL fans, the offseason is a time to reflect on the past season but, more importantly, to count down the days until the next one. Of course, another key aspect of the season for a lot of people is fantasy football.
To play daily fantasy football – creating your own team from all available NFL players and earning points for their individual achievements on the field – is an essential part of following the NFL for some people.
However, its popularity even draws in more neutral fans who do not typically follow the league with much interest. Fantasy football leagues are set up in a variety of different circles; work, friends, family, sports teams.
Further still, that actually makes fantasy football the gateway to becoming a fully-fledged NFL fan in many cases. The enjoyment of a shared experience in fantasy football is one that transfers smoothly to the NFL itself.
Fantasy football taps into people’s inherent competitive spirit and so, when a more neutral fan joins a fantasy football league, they will likely do a lot of research into how they can give themselves the best chance of winning.
This will, naturally, familiarise them with not only the mechanics of the game and league but also the players, coaches and managers who are involved.
It will also have them keeping a much closer eye on the events of the season as they unfold because they’ll want to keep up to date on the latest stats and how their selected players are performing. This makes the NFL a whole lot more interesting for those who didn’t previously focus on it much.
Fantasy football is mainly played for fun – though plenty of people do also put money at stake – and the enjoyment people get from challenging those around them and seeing how things pan out can endear them to the NFL.
That being said, fantasy football will not turn everyone who tries it into a NFL fan. Some will follow what they need to for their fantasy team, and keep it at that; it really is down to the individual.
Some people might even grow frustrated by the process should they suffer a few losses, and choose not to continue engaging with all the stat-searching and player-monitoring.
The chances are quite high though that fantasy football will bring a fan closer to the NFL, purely through association. They’ll watch more games, and these games will become much, much more interesting to them.
A game between two teams they’d previously never been interested in might suddenly become must-watch because it features vital players from their fantasy football team.
Outside of these games, they’ll be researching stats and monitoring all the latest goings-on. Before they know it, they’re a bonafide NFL fan.
With a deeper knowledge of the NFL will also, likely, come a deeper appreciation of the intricacies, skill, experience and tactics that are involved from players and coaches alike. You can’t win a fantasy football league purely on luck; the planning and strategy behind it highlights the work that must go in to succeeding in the NFL.
For some neutral fans, fantasy football might even push them toward supporting a particular NFL team. They might have a lot of players from a certain franchise, or they may find themselves attracted to the playing style of a particular team they’ve watched as a result of fantasy football.
Whatever the case, as someone learns more about the NFL and the teams involved, it’s only natural that they’ll feel drawn to certain ones, or one in particular.
When a fantasy league starts out, everyone’s goal is the same: make it to the playoffs. The traditional format of fantasy football, which mirrors that of the NFL, is part of what makes it such a popular pastime.
It also means a fan can potentially follow a team’s progress through the regular season alongside their own in their fantasy league, making that much more invested.
When someone dives into fantasy football, they become emotionally invested too. This gives them an instant connection to the NFL, whether they’re aware of it or not. They’ll bemoan one of their players making a fumble and celebrate when another runs a certain amount of yards.
To the uninitiated, fantasy football can seem like something only NFL superfans can get involved with and truly enjoy, something that only the true hardcore can sustain. The truth is that a neutral fan has just as much chance of winning a fantasy league; the stats and information is available to all.
While plenty of people’s interest won’t extend beyond the fantasy league they’re in, for a lot of fans their involvement in fantasy football will bring them closer to the NFL – it will certainly get them watching more games.
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