German Missions in the United States - Fantasy Sports
Enlarge image You can take the fantasy away from the boy, but he'll likely find another, eventually. According to the FSTA, the average fantasy player is around 41. (? picture-alliance / United Archives/TopFoto) There is a place for those of us who never made the varsity football team or got cut from the soccer squad when our skills suddenly, cruelly, no longer kept pace with our ambition. In this place, far from the discrimination of physics or physique, a fresh sports-microcosm unfurls to reveal a world where we direct the fortunes of the best athletes in the world ? because we own them.
That is the world of fantasy sports, one whose following is growing in Germany. Despite that growth, however, anecdotal evidence suggests that participation in Germany in no way compares with the millions of players in North America, who have propelled fantasy sports from a backroom gathering of sports dorks to part and parcel to the American sports experience. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA), a research and advocacy group for the sector, estimates the number of North American participants at 30 million; and whereas Germany-wide numbers are hard to come by, one German supplier of fantasy products netted only a little over 400,000 players. Europe-wide, competition is steady, but like in Germany, not overwhelming.
Enlarge image Ashton Kutcher, in just one sign of the growing mainstream in which fantasy sports now swims, participated in a ?Fantasy Football Superdraft? last year. (? picture-alliance / MJT/AdMedia )
I had to see for myself what this difference could be ? or if there even was one. So, as a longtime fantasy footballer, I decided it was time to test my mettle in the Champions League. Given that the National Football League and the Champions League start almost simultaneously, what better way to dawdle away the shortening autumn days than as the super-owner of both a football and soccer club?
So I attempted?fantasy soccer with?two squads on two different websites. After one week of play, it was clear that both the Germany.info teams, the Potomac River Muskies and the Sch?neberg Golden Stags, were at best under a newbie manager and at worst mismanaged. Also, the immediate differences between this and fantasy football were distinct enough that the two?experiences were no longer easily comparable.
One?difference is that?in fantasy Champions there is a standard money factor, whereby I am allotted cash that I use to buy players. Second, all soccer players are available so long as they fit the budget. Finally, playing in private leagues has not quite caught on; instead, I compete against every participant playing on that particular website (on one, a large sports website, around 28,000 played). This kind of feels like competing against numbers instead of interacting socially.
Enlarge image Cannot decide whether Messi or Ronaldo will play better in the Champions League? You can have both on your fantasy team. (? picture alliance / Pressefoto ULMER/Markus Ulmer ) Fantasy football begins as a social affair, usually accompanied by beers and bravado, where league members, often old friends, get together to pick their players in a draft. Draft-day starts churning an atmosphere of reminiscence mixed with trash-talk that creates an edgy nostalgia which continues for the entire season, like a competitive Facebook. In fantasy Champions League, on the other hand, I drafted players from a computer screen, alone. And although one can join a private league, most play against the other 28,000 or so competitors, thus removing the cyber-social aspect. As a new Champions League owner, I missed the social aspect of competing with friends the most, and it became clear that this was the clearest departure between the American and European experiences ? and perhaps a reason for the greater popularity stateside.
Paul Charchian, president of the FSTA, agrees. Although he said that interest in Europe is ?growing dramatically,? he finds it curious that European soccer leagues have not moved from competitions among strangers to backyard bragging with friends. The FSTA polled participants' reasons for playing, and four of the top six ? having fun, playing with friends, an invitation and socializing ? directly involve making contact with or keeping contact up with others. It is, in other words, an exceedingly friendly ?competition,? where the modifier in this case trumps the noun. Charchian gives one theory that would explain this fundamental difference between fantasy-Europe and fantasy-America: American fantasy sports began in small clubs, the first of which sprang up after World War II; conversely, European leagues have always been wide-spanning mega-competitions.
Enlarge image Hesitant about getting involved with these guys? Just take their stats and run back to your fantasy ? league. (? picture alliance / Newscom) This could change ? and is likely already doing so. Moreover, there are a good number of Germans who play American fantasy sports. And finally, fantasy Champions is still a barrel of fun.
But, you might be wondering,?what of the Germany.info teams? Well, the Sch?neberg Golden Stags, led by Captain Lionel Messi, increased in overall value by 414,000 euros and improved their overall rank considerably. The Muskies, however, fared much, much worse. Relegated to feeding off the bottom of the Potomac, the Muskies finished week one tied with the likes of??BriarPatch,? ?rommel,? ?Tre Champs Tahwina? and a few others for 22,879th place.
Source: http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/__pr/P__Wash/2011/09/20__fantasy__PR.html
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