Fantasy football is a game in which participants assemble an imaginary team of real life football players and score points based on those players' actual statistical performance or their perceived contribution on the field of play. Usually fantasy football games are based on one division in a particular country, although there are variations. Fantasy football is now a significant industry due to websites dedicated to developing the fantasy football community, and betting sites hosting their own fantasy football games.
There are companies with websites dedicated to fantasy football, including Fantasy Football Scout, which was founded in 2009 to cater to a growing online fantasy football audience.
History
Fantasy football was invented in 1990 by Italian journalist Riccardo Albini. Inspired by fantasy baseball (also known as Rotisserie, from the name of the place where the first players met, New York City restaurant La Rotisserie Française), Albini published fantasy football's rules for the first time through Studio Vit publisher, giving it the name Fantacalcio (calcio is the Italian word for football). Other journalists, such as Alberto Rossetti and Diego Antonelli, also contributed to the draft of the final version of the regulation.
A big contribution to the popularity of the game was given by the collaboration with the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, which starting from the summer in 1994 hosted the game on its pages and provided the rankings necessary to calculate fantasy teams' scores. The initiative was a great editorial success: despite expecting that about 10,000 subscribers would participate, by the end of the year 70,000 subscribers had played the game.
Fantasy football rapidly spread from Italy to other European countries. It is known as fútbol fantasy in Spain, fantasy football in France and Fantasy Fußball or Fantacalcio in Germany. In the following years two fantasy football competitions have been created for the whole European confederation. They are managed by UEFA and linked to the two major continental club competitions, the UEFA Champions League (UEFA Champions League Fantasy Football Game) and the UEFA Europa League (UEFA Europa League Fantasy Football Game). Both competitions follow Albini's regulation, except that the goalkeepers that do not concede receive 2 points instead of 4, and transfers cost 2 points per player after the first game. The version of fantasy football in the United Kingdom is the largest, with over 9 million players. Fantasy Football Scout ranks fantasy football managers on their website based on past performance.
Fantasy Premier League
Teams
Most fantasy football leagues, especially those run by national newspapers, ask participants to select 11 to 15 players within a price budget. There is usually a restriction on the number of players per club; a typical selection would be to select 1 goalkeeper, 4 defenders, 4 or 3 midfielders and 2 or 3 forwards. Some games are squad-based, where participants choose not just a first eleven but also a set of substitutes. Normally only 3 players can be used from one team.
In smaller leagues played by a small group of people, players are bought by bidding between the rival managers rather than for a set amount of money. This means a particular player can only play for one team, and thus any points he accrues are credited to that team only. Typically, most leagues offer the chance to transfer players in and out of the team as the season progresses, in case of injury, suspension or loss of form.
Points scoring
Points are then gained or deducted depending on players' performances. Points systems vary between games, but points are typically awarded for some or all of the following achievements: Playing in a match (or part of a match e.g. at least 60 minutes) Scoring a goal Earning an assist (the pass or touch leading to the goal) Keeping a clean sheet (goalkeepers, midfielders, and defenders only) Saving a penalty (goalkeeper only) Goalkeeper saves three shots or more Win for the player's team
As well as the above, points can be deducted for some or all of the following: Conceding a goal (goalkeepers and defenders only) Receiving a yellow or red card Missing a penalty kick Scoring an own goal Getting substituted Loss for the player's team