Why Americans Spend Billions of Dollars on Fantasy Football

 

The first thing Nima Vaez-Zadeh does before starting work during American football season is inspect his fantasy football team.

“During the season when players get hurt, you’ve got to change your lineup, add people from the waivers,” he says.

The 30-year-old, Washington-based businessman says he takes up to an hour each day to consider, and reconsider, his team’s players.

Fantasy football is a game in which people create imaginary teams from among real players in the National Football League (NFL). Fantasy football team “owners” win points based on the performance of their players in real games.

At the start of the season, most fantasy football participants give money to create a “pot” for his or her league. At the end of the season, the participants with the most points are awarded money from the pot.

But fantasy team owners, like Vaez-Zadeh, play for the right to hold their league's top prize, a championship trophy¹, for a year.

The Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association estimates there are 59 million fantasy sports players in the United States and Canada. The group adds that the fantasy sports industry is worth more than $7 billion a year.

Like many Americans, Vaez-Zadeh has been playing fantasy football for years. And he does not just take part in one competition. This season, he is playing in four different fantasy leagues with high school friends, university friends, co-workers and family members.

Vaez-Zadeh says his childhood dream was to head a sports team. “This is the closest I'll ever get to it, so it kind of makes me feel like I could put together a super team on my own and monitor that.”

But is that fun costing U.S. businesses billions of dollars?

“We're anticipating that fantasy football is going to cost employers this year around $9 billion in lost wages,” notes Andrew Challenger. He says the money is being paid to unproductive office workers. They are participating in fantasy football activities when they normally would be working.

Challenger is vice² president of the outplacement service Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It helps unemployed³ workers find new jobs.

There is not a sure way to document employer losses. But Challenger estimates workers will spend 30 minutes daily during work hours studying their players, proposing trades and doing related research.

Challenger says that is not necessarily a bad thing, however. In fact, he thinks it would be a mistake for employers to restrict fantasy football in the workplace, where smartphones and social media already entertain workers.

“Fantasy football is one of those few areas that employers can insert themselves,” Challenger says. “They can start their own league, and it gets people within the office talking to each other, often people from different departments within your organizatio...and we feel like that's a really good investment for companies in terms of the culture of their organizations…”

Challenger has seen these results. His company supports an official fantasy football league.

“We have a trophy that you get your name engraved⁴ on at the end of each season and get to keep that on your desk all year,” he says.

Vaez-Zadeh’s workplace does not operate an official fantasy football league, but he says members of the leadership team do take part in the office’s fantasy league.

Naturally, everyone wants to win. But for Vaez-Zadeh, keeping in contact and interacting with old friends is as important.

I’m Caty Weaver⁵.

Words in This Story

waiver – n. an official document indicating that someone has given up or waived⁶ a right or requirement?

participant – n. a person who is involved in an activity or event ?

league – n. a group of sports teams that play against each other?

monitor – n. to watch, observe, listen to, or check (something) for a special purpose over a period of time

anticipate – v. to think of (something that will or might happen in the future)?

insert – v. to put (something) in something?

engraved – adj. carved or cut lines, letters, designs, etc., on a hard surface

1 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

4 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

6 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句