Fantasy Football Continues Its Growth Amidst Controversy

Fantasy football is bigger than ever, as new players and companies prepare to jump in on this growing market which is offering a new option called “daily fantasy.” But as it grows bigger, governmental officials determined to stop gambling are eyeing it carefully.

DraftKings and FanDuel, two of the biggest fantasy football websites in the United States, are fighting against each other in a battle for players. And now other groups like Amaya Inc. are joining in to cash in on a fantasy football market which has 57 million players and is worth $27 billion.

DraftKings is offering $25 million in guaranteed prize money in its opening week, while FanDuel has guaranteed $12 million. This is in addition to other prizes for the top players in fantasy week, who can earn up to $1 million.

While fantasy football has existed for years, a big new change has been the rise in daily fantasy with the use of FanDuel promocode. Unlike fantasy football, where you draft a team of players at the start of the season and watch as said players do well or poorly, daily fantasy players draft an entirely new team every week. This game allows players to start over if they made a mistake, and is suited for a world with shorter attention spans.

Yahoo! is offering a daily fantasy league for the first time this year. And the fantasy football market has continued to expand every single year.

But fantasy football players may have to worry about the government. On Monday, Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) released a statement which called for a review of the status of fantasy football.

Pallone observed that the interplay between federal laws on sports betting as well as the unclear status of fantasy football “has made the legal landscape murky and public policy unclear, making them ripe for Congressional review.”

Only four states allow sports betting, but fantasy football has traditionally been viewed as outside the gambling landscape since it is a game of skill and not chance. But players are now spending more and betting more on this market. This calls into question whether fantasy football should be legalized alongside traditional sports betting, or whether it should be banned.

But while Congress may deliberate over this issue, fantasy football will continue to spread. There are reports that DraftKings and FanDuel could merge to form a fantasy football powerhouse. The future of fantasy football may be uncertain, but its present is as bright as it could be.

[Photo By: Mark Von Holden/Getty Images Entertainment]