Information Graphic by Austin Dowdall
NFL football has always been a very popular sport, but with fantasy football becoming more popular in the past couple of years, due to an increasing fan base. Even the non football fans are watching NFL football because of the recent fantasy football frenzy.

Fantasy football is mostly played among a group of friends that each pick players that they want, than face off a different person every week. Players get points from their performances on the field. The way to score a player can vary from league to league.

Most of the players that are playing fantasy football, are in more than one league.

Senior student Mathias Hoefferle who also plays fantasy football explains why he plays in multiple leagues, “It allows me to have a chance to win more money and compete with different players.”

Most people play for money in fantasy football, which gives them more motivation to be in multiple leagues.

Junior fantasy football player Noah Jakupciak explained, ” I’am in 4 leagues so I can win more money.”

Being in more than one league can create conflict between different teams.

Hoefferle explain,” Yes often times I will have an offensive player competing against a defense from another league.”

Fantasy football is enjoyed because it gives more competition between friends, and  helps people become more focused on the NFL football games.

Sophomore fantasy football player Cody Venske explained why he likes to play with friends “Getting together with my friends, and have the competition. ”

Playing fantasy football gives people more of a reason to watch football and also enjoy it.

Jakupciak explains, “It makes my Sunday a lot more interesting and gets me more focused on the games.”

Fantasy football gets people more involved in watching the games their players are on.

Hoefferle also explained, ” It makes me more involved in the games because I look for the players that are on my fantasy teams to do well.”

People who play fantasy football usually have a preferences for which website to use. People have certain preferences for various reasons.

Venske says which of the websites he has used and explains his favorite, ” I’ve used ESPN and NFL.com, ESPN is my favorite, it is easier to set up, and the scoring system makes more sense.”

There was a similar theme in which website is the most popular.

Hoefferle explained, “I have used two websites, ESPN and Yahoo, my favorite is ESPN because of the convenience of the app.”

There is a lot of strategy involved with picking a good fantasy football line up.

Jakupciak explains his strategy, “I study up trying to figure out what players to get. I usually just pick the best available at the time.”

Some strategy is deciding witch position to draft first. Also figuring out how many of each position to draft helps your team be more successful throughout the year.

Then Venske explains which position he likes to draft first, ” I pick running back first, there is not as many running as the other positions. I draft three running backs, so I have one for the bye week. If one gets injured I get another from the waiver wire.”

Every fantasy football league has a commissioner, and each commissioner has even more responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is deciding the scoring system for their fantasy football league.

Jakupciak explains the work that a commissioner has to do, “It gives me no extra work, I just have to make sure no one screws over the league.”