Fantasy sports are games where players can put together “fantasy” teams that imitate real life players within a given sport like soccer, baseball, basketball, or boxing. Statistics are a key factor in fantasy sports, as they are what determine the outcome of each game. Fantasy team owners will draft players, trade them, and drop players they don’t want to keep anymore. Interestingly, the fantasy sports industry is now worth billions of dollars.

Fantasy Sports Basics

History of Fantasy Sports
The internet made fantasy sports an extremely popular pursuit for many players around 1990. Commissioner.com was one popular site amongst the early fantasy sports providers, and then ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports, and DraftKings became popular sites. Trade associations began to form for players as well. Daily fantasy sports are the newest form of the genre, allowing players to compete in one day contests that offer upwards of a million dollars in certain cases.

Season-Long vs. Daily Fantasy Sports Games
Some of the most popular sports include NASCAR racing, baseball, and football. In most cases, you only need to join a league and form a team to get started playing. You will usually start with a basic entry fee on most sites so that you compete for winnings. If you play season long games, which go on for an extended period rather than ending after a day, you’ll need to monitor stats over several days, while daily fantasy sports games will only require single-day watching of the boards.

Winning strategies for daily and season long fantasy sports include doing research on the game, on its best players, and on outside factors (like track or field conditions) that could influence the outcome of the game. You would be surprised at how small details matter in the end. Some players may also be injured during the season which causes problems in the long run for teams and could make or break the outcome of the game. Keep in mind varying factors such as a player’s overall performance, newcomers and “Breakout” players, and players who seem to be coming into their prime — or even nearing the end of their career.

League Types
Fantasy leagues also vary depending on which type of league you want to enter. There are large tournaments, triple and quadruple ups, sit and go’s, or beginners only. If you are just starting out in fantasy sports, it’s recommended to just start out as small as possible and play in big field tournaments. Do your research, build a basic lineup, and then enter your lineups against a variety of different competitors by accepting or requesting head to head matches. Try starting out with single entry and low buy in games when you are first starting out. Also seek low entry fee games so that you don’t have a to risk a lot of money at the start.

With most sites, you only need to register an account to get started and put down a small deposit using a credit card or debit card. Additionally, you can find coupons for specific sites like DraftKings, StarsDraft, or ESPN. When you start referring friends to your site of choice, you’ll be able to earn even more cash simply through using your referral links. It’s also a lot of fun to play with friends, since you can compete in an exciting, fun game — whichever one you find the most appealing.

Tips on Drafting a Team
Remember that picking players based on their performance in real life is key. So if you watch your desired sport, such as football, soccer, or basketball, you may already have some idea of which players will be especially strong. Good planning is also critical in winning at fantasy sports since you need to think ahead in terms of how the league will prevail throughout the season. Team rosters vary from week to week because some players can start, and others will be benched if they are injured or play poorly.

Conclusion
Ultimately, fantasy sports are a fun and potentially profitable hobby for anyone who is a fan of real life sports or just wants to earn a little extra cash in your spare time. Looking at real life players’ statistics is a good way to get a feel for who you should draft, and knowing the rules for your website of choice is critical. Also remember to look at field conditions when putting together your teams for the season. All you need to do is register on a fantasy sports site to get started playing today!