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With over 15 million participants last year, fantasy football has enjoyed phenomenal growth and is quickly becoming America’s newest pastime. The game’s appeal comes from its ability to give sports fans a unique connection to the world of professional football through interaction with fellow fanatics in an exciting, competitive way. Fantasy football is perfectly suited for Internet play, which has been a definite factor in its rocket-ride to popularity. Today, almost every major sport in America boasts a fantasy version, but fantasy football remains the top dog among sports fans.
A quick “Google” search for “fantasy football” returns hundreds of sites where any armchair quarterback can test his statistical prowess in organized league play. There are free-to-play leagues for the casual player and fee-based leagues for serious fans. The increasing popularity of fantasy sports has even caused many sports networks to sit up and take commercial interest by developing fantasy specific sports shows for it’s growing audience. There is also a very generous selection of printed material available at local bookstores to assist fantasy players with every aspect of managing their very own dream team. Fantasy football has, without a doubt, become big business. Let’s jump in and take a look at some of the major sites on the Internet that can deliver the best fantasy football has to offer.
#1 - The Fantasy Football Cafe (http://www.fantasyfootballcafe.com) gets my vote as the best all-around fantasy football site currently on the web. They offer in-depth scouting reports during the off-season as well as regular features including start and sit lists, point of view articles by a terrific team of fantasy football experts, sleepers of the week, cheat sheets, links to interesting football sites, and much more. Players can make last minute roster decisions in their weekly pre-game chats, and play free games such as Pick3, Sweet Sixteen or the Trivia Blitz for prizes and bragging rights. There are fantasy football message boards for talk, tips and advice, and a whole lot of humor. Whether you're looking for opinions on your latest trade offer, want to discuss your favorite team, need input on your keeper list, or simply wish to browse the classifieds for league openings, you'll find what you're looking for at the Fantasy Football Cafe.
The following sites round out my list and are well worth a visit for anyone thinking seriously about contending for a fantasy Super Bowl championship.
#2 - Ask the Commish (http://www.askthecommish.com). Start by checking out the commish's player rankings and weekly picks. This site is an excellent resource for tips and advice on creating your own fantasy dynasty. This site is extremely comprehensive and can be a goldmine for more serious players.
#3 - Draft Guide (http://www.draftguide.com). The owners of Draft Guide offer fifteen years of fantasy football knowledge combined with over 20 years of programming experience to create a complete database driven site that contains everything a fantasy team owner could want or need. This site offers up to the minute stats and reports that are crucial to die-hard players.
#4 - The Fantasy Football Mastermind (http://www.ffmastermind.com). In their tenth year on the web, they continue to specialize in providing comprehensive fantasy football information all year around. In the off-season, they track free agent player and coaching moves, release eye in the sky scouting reports from many NFL team correspondents, release exclusive fantasy football articles, and provide full coverage of the yearly NFL college player draft in their NFL Draft Central feature.
#5 - Fantasy Baseball Central (http://www.fantasybaseballcentral.com/football.html). Yes, a fantasy baseball site made my list! Why, you ask? Well, because it only hosts one of the best year round fantasy football sites as well. Fantasy Football Central is dedicated to providing a site in which owners can access information quickly by providing links to the latest information as well as advice and dialogue to help you win! If it’s fantasy football statistics you crave, you'll find them at Fantasy Football Central!
The web has some great resources for fantasy football. However, the number of fantasy related sites can get overwhelming. This list is meant to represent the "best" sites -- best meaning comprehensive and most reputable. Whether you're looking to join a league or just want draft tips, odds are that you'll find it at one of these web sites. If not, check out ESPN.com, CBSsportsline.com or TheSportingNews.com for more in-depth coverage and links to some of the most popular fantasy football contests the Internet has to offer.
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