Although fantasy sports competition – the act of building
and competing with imaginary sports teams comprised of real-life
athletes – had meager beginnings as a hobby and pastime among
friends and coworkers, fantasy sports has exploded in recent years
into a wildly popular, multi-billion-dollar industry. This June,
the Fantasy Sports Trade Association reported that over 56.8
million individuals now compete in fantasy sports competitions in
North America (a 20% increase from 2014), including one-fifth of
all U.S. residents.
The popularity and integration of fantasy sports into the fabric
of American culture is impossible to overstate. Fantasy sports
contests today are assembled around such diverse sporting events as
football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, golf, cricket and
auto racing. Traditional media networks, such as NBC, CBS, FOX and
ESPN, have incorporated dedicated fantasy sports-related television
shows into their regular rotation of programming.
