Fantasy Football could pay big dividends for AFL
Sean Chaffin
Tuesday February 13, 2007
Increase in league and news sites could be trend league could capitalize on, ESPN details some its plans
If you are reading this, odds are that you have more than just a passing interest in arena football. In the last few years, the league has made great strides, but there are more that can be made. As the AFL strives for more popularity, fantasy football could be one of the prime paths for growing the fan base.
An article in the Jan. 17 edition of the Washington Times noted that 16 million Americans participated in one or more fantasy sports in 2006. Of that, 13 million participated in some kind of fantasy football. If the league can slice a nice chunk of those 13 million into fantasy arena football, the league’s recognition, as well as television ratings and ticket sales, will surely grow. It’s not hard to envision a marketing angle for the league with a tagline something like this: “Don’t let your fantasy football season end – with AFL fantasy, the fun lasts all year long.”
While there are many fantasy players each year drawn to the fun and fantasy of owning their own NFL team, only a small number have ventured into AFL fantasy football. Sandbox.com was the league’s official site the last few years, but will not be carrying it this year. Some fans complained the games were not great and statistics were not always accurate.
In recent years, the league has seen some real positive developments, including increased visibility with ESPN and a hit video game by EA Sports. Arena fantasy football has been a very small, but growing faction of fans. Unlike its outdoor big brother, arena fantasy football offers a much different challenge for players. Unlike the NFL, players may play offense and defense and can score on both sides of the ball. With the elimination of the rule barring free substitution, time will tell how this move will affect fantasy AFL scoring.
As the league has grown, more options for hosting leagues, player news and information, and games have become available. ArenaFan.com has been a big player in this boom. The site began its ArenaFan-tasy Football game way back in 2000.
“ArenaFan Online set a new standard in online fantasy sports by hosting multiple leagues during the 2000 season that allowed users to draft players, trade players, and compete in head-to-head games with inter-league opponents,” the site announced in a news release in 2001.
For 2007, ArenaFan will once again offer its free Basic QuickPlay game and the more sophisticated Fan-tasy Football Deluxe League Play, which allows players to form eight-team leagues, conduct league drafts, trades, waivers, and more. The game, which costs $6.99 per team, starts in the second week of the season, with playoffs in weeks 15 and 16. For more information visit www.arenafan.com/interactive/?page=fantasy .
“Fantasy I think helps any sport get more ongoing interest, especially from fans who usually wouldn't watch or look for scores from other teams,” said ArenaFan.com
Technical Director and Assistant Statistical Editor Dave Carlson.
In an exclusive interview last week, ESPN officials announced some of their plans to get involved fantasy AFL.
“We'll be doing an AFL Pick ‘Em game, where fans compete to pick the winners of every game that weekend, including a tie-breaker where fans predict the points of ESPN's Monday night game,” said Matthew Berry, ESPN senior director of fantasy games.
The game will offer weekly and grand prizes, which are still to be determined, he added. Perry said the network is already making more plans to expand its offerings for 2008.
Grown out of frustration with not finding any AFL fantasy host sites, GoalLineSoftware.com was begun four years ago by Dave Boese as a way to host his own league site. Expanding to other owners a year later, Boese knew other people would be interested in having their own leagues on his site, and could cut down on the commissioners’ duplication of statistics gathering.
“I realized that there had to be other commissioners running AFL leagues, and we were all gathering the same stats and duplicating our work. I thought it would be nice if there was one place this could be done, and stat collection duties could be shared,” Boese says.
This year, Goal Line has doubled the number of leagues it hosts to 16 this year as well and afl2 league and several college and lacrosse leagues. Commissioners like his site, he says, because of the number of customizable features offered and ease of use at running a fantasy league. Boese sees the growth in AFL leagues on Goal Line as a direct correlation to the increasing popularity of the AFL.
“I was surprised that I added as many new leagues as I did, but I think that means that the league is catching on, and I think fantasy football is a big part of that,” he says. “Similar to the NFL, the casual fan may watch a game, or at the very least, pay attention to box scores if he/she knows they have a player playing in a certain game.”
