Post by steelers1954 on Jul 24, 2016 10:15:44 GMT -5
The birth of fantasy football dates back to 1962. Wilfred "Bill" Winkenbach, who had a financial stake in the Oakland Raiders, invented and played fantasy games involving golf and baseball in the 1950's that later provided the inspiration for fantasy football.
Fantasy football was born in a room of the Manhatten Hotel now the Milford Plaza. With cocktails in hand,Winkenbach and two writers- Scotty Stirling and George Ross created a scheme and set rules to govern a game where sports fans could draft players from professional teams onto their fantasy rosters, playing weekly games against others in a league that rewarded the team with the best record.
The inaugural league was called the GOPPPL(Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League),and the first draft took place in the rumpus room of Winkenbach's home in Oakland,California in August 1963. The league consisted of eight members,made up of administrative affiliates of the AFL (American Football League), pro football journalists, or someone who had purchased or sold 10 season tickets for the Raiders 1963 season. Each roster consisted of the following in the GOPPPL: two quarterbacks, four halfbacks, two fullbacks, four offensive ends, two kick/punt returners, two field goal kickers, two defensive backs/linebackers and two defensive lineman.
As of 2012,the GOPPPL celebrated its 50th season and it still maintains its TD-only scoring heritage.
In 1969, Andy Mousalimas, an original creator of GOPPL and participant in the inaugural draft, brought the game to his sports bar, the King's X in Oakland, California where he added a couple leagues. When the patrons of other Oakland and San Francisco bars visited for trivia contest they soon learned of fantasy football and passed the word about it. Due to the time consuming nature of the games scoring it was difficult to pick up and spread slowly across the country.
In 1997,CBS launched the beta version of the first publicly available free fantasy football website. The game immediately became widely popular. Within three years all major sports media websites launched competing fantasy football websites.
The NFL released their own official game in 2010, NFL.com Fantasy Football, further driving industry growth. Fantasy football is now the single most important marketing tool for the NFL. Today it is estimated over 30 million people compete in public and private leagues online nationally and millions worldwide.
Fantasy football was born in a room of the Manhatten Hotel now the Milford Plaza. With cocktails in hand,Winkenbach and two writers- Scotty Stirling and George Ross created a scheme and set rules to govern a game where sports fans could draft players from professional teams onto their fantasy rosters, playing weekly games against others in a league that rewarded the team with the best record.
The inaugural league was called the GOPPPL(Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League),and the first draft took place in the rumpus room of Winkenbach's home in Oakland,California in August 1963. The league consisted of eight members,made up of administrative affiliates of the AFL (American Football League), pro football journalists, or someone who had purchased or sold 10 season tickets for the Raiders 1963 season. Each roster consisted of the following in the GOPPPL: two quarterbacks, four halfbacks, two fullbacks, four offensive ends, two kick/punt returners, two field goal kickers, two defensive backs/linebackers and two defensive lineman.
As of 2012,the GOPPPL celebrated its 50th season and it still maintains its TD-only scoring heritage.
In 1969, Andy Mousalimas, an original creator of GOPPL and participant in the inaugural draft, brought the game to his sports bar, the King's X in Oakland, California where he added a couple leagues. When the patrons of other Oakland and San Francisco bars visited for trivia contest they soon learned of fantasy football and passed the word about it. Due to the time consuming nature of the games scoring it was difficult to pick up and spread slowly across the country.
In 1997,CBS launched the beta version of the first publicly available free fantasy football website. The game immediately became widely popular. Within three years all major sports media websites launched competing fantasy football websites.
The NFL released their own official game in 2010, NFL.com Fantasy Football, further driving industry growth. Fantasy football is now the single most important marketing tool for the NFL. Today it is estimated over 30 million people compete in public and private leagues online nationally and millions worldwide.