What is Fantasy Football?

Fantasy football is a game that simulates owning and running a real
NFL team. There are hundreds of different rule structures, but
essentially, the game is played between 8, 10 or 12 people or "team owners"
who form a "league" and select (via a draft or auction) their favorite
real players from around the NFL to compete against the other team
owners in their fantasy league on a head-to-head or total points
basis. The object is to select real NFL players that will score points
for your fantasy team based on yards, touchdowns, receptions and other
statistical categories earned during real NFL games.

So, if your league scorings says a touchdown is worth 6 points, 25
yards rushing is 1 point, and a fumble is -2 points, then a player
with 2 touchdowns, 1 fumble, and 50 yards rushing would score 12
[(2*6) + (1*-2) + (50/25)] fantasy points.

The popularity of this game has exploded over the last decade to the
point where over 20 million people play each year. Several name-brand
media firms are active service providers for this industry, including
Yahoo! Sports (most dominant), CBS Sports, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and
ESPN, and there are hundreds of small businesses catering to this
market as well (like us!). There are also two trade associations dedicated to the multi-billion dollar industry.