Everyone Loves Fantasy Baseball
Channel: Darwin Rodriguez
Date: 2015-01-28

“If you’re a baseball fan, then you have to play it,” said Matt Saur. Saur is just one of twenty-seven million people in North America that participate in fantasy sports leagues. “I started when I was fifteen and since then I play every year. I’m a big baseball fan so I have more than one team each year.”

Played first in the 1960’s and introduced to the public in the 90’s, fantasy sports made the shift to the internet in 1997. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association, a trade group representing the fantasy sports industry, says the industry is estimated to have a $3-$4 billion annual impact across the sports business. The FSTA represents more than 100 fantasy sports companies. Members are awarded for having outstanding performance in areas such as draft style, rankings and projections, fantasy advertisements, fantasy blogs, and draft kit.

Although ESPN, CBS Sports, and Yahoo are the more popular fantasy sports providers, it doesn’t mean they’re the only ones. Take for example MHS Fantasy Sports, whose owners have been operating mhssports.com since 1990. ”I played in a fantasy baseball league in 1989 and thought it was a lot of fun,” said Owner and President Mark Shuckman. “I had many ideas and decided to create a fantasy baseball league as a hobby.” As a result, Schuckman says he is very proud of maintaining a successful business for twenty-two years, “especially in these tough economic times.” 

‘My goal is to always offer the best customer service possible. Offering good customer service helps in keeping my many loyal customers,” said Shuckman.

At MHS Fantasy Sports, members are able to join a league by purchasing a standard package for as little $160 (individually), with the top prize winner cashing out $400 - $450 at the end of the season. Mega league packages can be purchased for $275. The grand prize: $1000.

Matt Soldano, a local fantasy baseball player, also participates in a league where members earn prizes for the top performances. “We each pay $25 for the league and another $10 for a trophy that the winner gets at the end,” said Soldano. “It’s very nice and has plates with engravings for names with the year they won. The rule is: the person who won the previous year keeps it in their possession. If you haven’t won the league yet, then you cannot touch the trophy. I’ve yet to touch it because I haven’t won.”

Fantasy sports have done more than give its participants an activity for leisure. “I think that fantasy baseball, and fantasy sports in general, have dramatically increased the popularity of the sport,” said journalist Ryan Lester. As a writer for BleacherReport.com, Lester began covering the online game in February 2008 on LesterLegends.com, a site he founded.

“[fantasy sports] gives journalists plenty to write about. Prior to fantasy sports, the majority of sports fans only cared about their local team,” said Lester. “Now, you still care about your team, but you are interested in every team that has one of your “players.”

Joe Cataldo, a Mets fans who becomes frustrated when things don’t go well with his players, fantasizes he can take control of things at times. “I watch a lot of Mets games and see the manager make a lot of bonehead decisions. I think I can make as good decisions as he makes.”