Branches Book

BRANCHES

owner follow every game in the NFL to track and root for each player. My dad likes to watch a grid of every game being played so that he can follow every player. In order to be successful, fantasy football does require luck but also commitment. It is critical to closely follow every player in the NFL and to ensure that your team is the best team that you can possibly make. Fantasy football has had a huge impact on my life because of the close- knit community that it allowed me to make. The Guillermo league dates back to the beginning of 9 th grade when I formed the league with nine close friends. My nine friends in the league are as invested in the league as I am. As much dedication and care that I put into fantasy football is the same dedication, if not more, that my friends put in. The NFL has the majority of its games scheduled on Sundays. During the football season, that is the one day of the week that I always look forward to. My friends and I typically watch football together, at my house, starting at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. During this time spent together, we watch football, go out to lunch, and play competitive football games in the afternoon so that we aren’t couch potatoes. One thing’s for sure: if I don’t finish work due on Monday before Sunday, I’m screwed. That’s how invested I am in watching football, and during the season- I have no issue in solely watching football every Sunday. Feel free to ridicule me, I totally get it; from learning about my personal connection to fantasy football, I understand if you think I’m a little too addicted because I am. Does it make it wrong to be so addicted? I will say that I’m not the only one. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) found that nearly 58 million people play fantasy football with that number annually increasing. The FSTA has also estimated that of the 58 million people that play, the average amount of time spent per week on managing one’s team is three hours per week. On top of that, there is watching the games on Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday. During the fantasy season, I devote more than ten hours of my week to fantasy football. Come to think of it, that’s a little crazy actually, but luckily I have the capability of finding the right balance with everything else in my life. Anyway, my point is that there are other people who devote as much or even more time than I do and are as addicted. Ideally, it would be great to incorporate survey responses on behalf of the millions of fantasy football participants furthering the notion that fantasy football is so addictive, but unfortunately this research has not been conducted and is not feasible data. As a result, I decided to make a few surveys of my own. I was able to survey 35 friends and family friends. I asked three different questions to prove how addictive and enticing fantasy football can be. The data I’m presenting is more of a personal anecdote, as the responses were from family members and friends but it gives me an

208