I honestly do not mind getting a group of my friends together and playing some fantasy football with them, creates competition, trash talking, and overall a winner, comprised of anything from lunch bought by the group, or a trophy that is handed over every season.
I mean, I may be young, but remember the time when people got together and had a draft board and kept up with their teams and had to speak to people to make trades and things like that.
Yet with the introduction of technology and fantasy football sites, it has become the normal to draft on your phone, have seven different leagues, and be involved in at least two or three week to week money leagues. But the thing that always makes me laugh is the simple fact that DraftKings, Fan Duel, and other week-to-week leagues claim that it is not a gambling site.
Well I am just going to quote the definition of gambling to clarify some key points – playing games or taking risk in the chance of money. Does this not make it self-explanatory from this point on, should I even continue writing the rest of this article?
Now I am not condoning those who play the week-to-week money leagues, I can honestly care less, but the main issue is with the leagues and websites stating that it is not a gambling website. The only reason why they are stating it is not gambling is because they do not want to be taxed by the federal government by any means necessary. Yet this may actually change with the recent scandal that happened between FanDuel and DraftKings, which our talented Nick Ficorelli wrote about earlier this month here.
Everyone is out trying to make a quick dollar, but remember when we just did this for fun, when it wasn’t about money and making sure you kept your friendships. I also feel like it’s starting to take the originality and spunk out of the games, giving people reason to only care about their fantasy team instead of their actual team, which is explained in my previous article.
But on an honest note, gambling is a very heavy addiction and could lead to many problems in life, I know other things do, but I have seen people lose thousands of dollars because they feel that if they just bet one more game, they will win their money back.
Anyways, let’s get back to the way we used to do fantasy teams, where we got together, made it into party together and used draft boards, traded draft picks with each other, and make it something more human and fun like. Instead of sitting behind a computer or a phone, having thirteen different leagues and not knowing any of the people that you are playing against.
But I would love to hear how you feel or your feedback in the comments below.