Big Business in Online Fantasy Sports

In spite of the new regulations and banning of other gambling styles via the Internet, it looks like Online Fantasy Sports is gaining in business. It usually works through bets for real players of football, baseball and other sports and their statistics. It seems that the 800 million USD industry is gaining in popularity not only because of people who play it for money but also friends and co-workers who are competing against each other. In fact, the Internet is now home to dozens of websites managing online fantasy sports wagers and accommodating players as well as getting a percentage for doing so. Number of players expected to soar According to Paul Charchian, president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, there are about seven million American and Canadians that are playing Fantasy Sports since 2008. The numbers are expected to have soared for the past years, contributing to large commissions in some sites. In fact, in the new site FanDuel.com, the commissions have amounted to 35 USD per player every month. The new site now has more than 20,000 users who have placed up to 65,000 bets and is valued at around 1.8 million USD in venture capital. The numbers were released by its CEO Nigel Eccles, adding that transactions have increased up to ten times with the start of the NFL season. Not considered gambling According to Charchian, Fantasy Sports is not labelled as sports gambling. According to him, wagers weren’t made on scores, but rather on a betting system where individual performances are the top factors considered. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Fantasy Sports gamblers are not spending any less on the games. It has been estimated that participating gamblers are spending up to 134 USD every year. The survey which has been conducted by Ipsos on 2008 has shown that even during the starting years of Fantasy Sports, millions of Americans and Canadians are already in it for fun. Just why it has been a big draw seems to involve different factors. Some men are in it for the bragging rights while others are into serious rivalries with other friends. The attraction however is not merely limited to those mentioned. Fantasy Sports allows players to get a whole new approach when it comes to sports betting. Some sites who started early on in the industry have managed to introduce daily games which started a whole new barrage of players. Some even complain that the number of bets they can make each night is not enough. According to Eccles, unlike season drafts, daily draft models allow for addition of partners all the while through the NFL season. Currently, the industry is still gaining in popularity with new websites showing up left and right with more players jumping in.