It’s fall and that means Fantasy Sports are all the rage nowadays and that means fantasy. Fantasy sports now encompass nearly every sport from football, baseball, hockey, basketball, and even golf and beyond. Fantasy sports have become such a big time event for your average fan watching from their house that it has been turned into a massive industry! Fantasy football alone is a multi billion dollar market that is continually growing. With so much money involved it’s easy to see why companies want in on the money. For example, watch any regular season football game or any sports station anytime of the year and it’s guaranteed that before to long you will see a commercial for some kind of fantasy sports.

So why is this becoming such a big thing and drawing so many people? There are a few reasons that come to mind when thinking why people love fantasy sports. One is competition. Who doesn’t love to compete for money or office space bragging rights? The risk of gambling is another reason people love to bet with the possibility of making money, hence why this has become a multi billion dollar industry. Another reason people love fantasy sports is the idea of being the manger and making dream teams by combining all their favorite players to one team and root them all on.  The last reason this is becoming so popular? Pure love of the game. People who watch every single game every week love to spice up watching the games and make them a little more interesting, especially for those whose team is less than stellar.

This new phenomenon is sweeping the nation all ages are taking part. Fantasy sports for all sports, but especially “America’s Game” football, are on a major rise over the last few years. Leagues (as they are called) come in all shapes and sizes and incorporate different people with many people being in more than one league. Leagues span from office leagues, to families and friends to national leagues for large sums of money. While some leagues cost money to join with payouts if you win many, man leagues are free with the alluring factor of bragging rights. Fellow Holyoke High Herald writer Alex Glanville had “one phrase that explains why I do fantasy football, and it is that I do it for the love of the game. It also adds more interest to each game on Sunday as it makes all the games much more meaningful especially when it come to teams that aren’t my favorite.”

With such a large rise in the popularity of fantasy sports they are now in mainstream media. TV shows, websites, and even companies are now solely centered around fantasy sports. ESPN now has shows on Sunday mornings all focused around fantasy and how you can best prepare your team for the day. Not to mention websites like Fanduel and Draftkings that always advertise about their one day games and how you can make millions watching sports. Now that’s probably a long shot and not a great career choice, but there are plenty of people who spend hundreds even thousands on these fantasy sports, especially football. All this and not to mention all the special edition magazines that focus around fantasy sports for at least one entire issue. But with all the money and popularity behind this it’s easy to see why everyone wants a piece of the pie.

So are fantasy sports a fad or are they here to stay? By all accounts fantasy sports seem to be a staple as of now so I would say they are going to stay. They add more excitement to each game rooting for your players. Plus people  love the allure of money and gambling will always draw a crowd. Plus who doesn’t love competing with your best friends for bragging rights. So I would expect to see fantasy sports around for the long run, as the love of sports only continue to grow in our lives.