At the recent Fantasy Sports Trade conference in Chicago July 8-9, over 120 attendees should have left with the same conclusion I had…Fantasy Sports Are Alive And Well!

The conference started with a special Industry Contribution Award presented to CDM Fantasy Sports, in grateful appreciation for our outstanding contributions and steadfast dedication to the protection of the rights of the Fantasy Sports Industry. I was honored to accept this award on behalf of my partners and myself.

The most valid sample for any research conducted by Ipsos Reid Public affairs was presented by Aaron Amic, and it had the audience in a buzz. The new research validates that the market size of people playing fantasy sports has reached 29.9 million, with a consumer spending impact of $800 million. The total impact of our industry has reached $4.48 billion. Big numbers!

11% of the US 248 million population is playing, 10% of all adults and 13% of all teens. In the 18-34 age range, 22% are playing. The average player has 3.1 teams, so if you know someone playing fantasy sports, they are probably playing a couple teams, and a couple sports. The average person spends over $25.

One of the things that have had a large impact on the growth numbers is Social Networking sites, such as facebook. They attract a younger audience, and a download of a fantasy sports application will attract over one million players.

The highlight of every conference is the “experts” league drafts, and this year was no exception. We had three leagues (with 12 players in each) battling for the best rosters. When the rosters of all the teams are loaded into their leagues on Fanball Commissioner NFL, I’ll provide a link (and there will be one from the FSTA), and you can muse over the selections.

But I’ll show you the best team now…which happens to be mine… QB Roethisberger, RB Westbrook, RB Maroney, WR A. Johnson, WR C. Johnson, WR Galloway, TE Miller, Flex RB Forte, Def Chicago, K J Brown, 5 bench… RB A Green, RB D Williams, QB Schaub, WR Bennett, WR Ginn. The nice folks at Jostens will be providing a ring to the winner; do you think I should get sized now?

Have a great week!

I was asked by Maury Brown to contribute an article for his The Biz of Baseball website on the State Of Major League Baseball, 2008.  Below is my contribution.  If you would like to view the entire story and articles from 30 authors, here’s a link… http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2279&Itemid=1 The State Of MLB
from Charlie Wiegert
VP of CDM Fantasy Sports Corp
dba Fanball.com My world is Fantasy Baseball, so I look at the State of the MLB from a fantasy perspective. It could not be any better! With the United States Supreme Court denying the appeal of our lawsuit with MLBAM/MLBPA, the world of fantasy baseball (and all fantasy sports games) was given a green light to charge full speed ahead. The second most popular to fantasy football, fantasy baseball is responsible for a major portion of the $2 billion industry. In fact, the average fantasy baseball player will spend more money than the average fantasy football player, in research provided by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.
Over the next few years, I expect the revenue from fantasy baseball will grow at a larger percentage increase than fantasy football, or any of the sports.Baseball has never been more popular with the viewing public. Attendance at games, DirecTV ’s Extra Innings package, MLBTV and regular viewing of games on TV are at record paces. Innovations and technology have made the way we watch games more interesting, and have provided the fantasy player with more than enough to feed their addiction. New fantasy games, such as Fanball.com’s Pick Em 64 Superstar Baseball, will attract more casual baseball and fantasy baseball fans, and will provide groundwork for these fans to become more avid fantasy players. In the coming years, I see more fantasy baseball games from existing companies and new companies.Major media will embrace the game more than ever before. They realize fantasy baseball is good for business, something it took the leagues more than a few years understand. The fantasy player is the most loyal of all their customers, and willing to spend their hard earned dollars for the entertainment the game provides. Advertisers have seen great results from their promotions within the fantasy industry, and view the demographics of the fantasy players as one of the best audiences they can find. This all adds to growth. As fantasy baseball, and fantasy sports in general, become even more mainstream, the revenue that this industry generates will continue to rise at a rapid pace.The biggest enemy baseball has is itself. Baseball fans do not want to be hearing about steroid controversies, or want congress to be holding hearings about how baseball conducts it’s business. They don’t want to hear about baseball filing lawsuits against little league teams for using “their” names. They don’t want to hear about lawsuits over who owns the statistics. They don’t want to hear about a possible strike because they can’t decide how to share the billions of dollars the industry generates. Americans are very tolerant, and they choose not to think about how outrageous the player salaries have become. They continue to support the game with their hard earned dollars because they enjoy baseball. They enjoy the challenges the game provides, they enjoy analyzing about what will happen, and they enjoy discussing what did happen. The fascination with baseball is part of the American framework, and if they can find more ways to allow the fans to enjoy it, and give less ways for fans to criticize it, the state of MLB will be blissful!

Appearance on FOX Business Channel’s “The Glick Report” (6/3/08)

Today, June 1st, 2008, will go down as one of the biggest days of my life, all because of two little words: “Is Denied.”

Today the United States Supreme Court issued it’s verdict (or lack of one) in our lawsuit with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. It was short and sweet. “The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

And with this statement from the highest Court in our land comes the finale to our three year ordeal. It’s hard to believe what has transpired over the last three years, and I would like to thank all those who have been supportive of our cause, especially my fellow members of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association who filed Amicus Briefs on our behalf.

From the very beginning, I was confident that our use of Major League Baseball players names to identify their stats for calculations in our fantasy baseball games could be done without anyone’s permission. Those stats are in every newspaper that carries box scores, and are in the public domain. The courts have agreed!

Plus, I felt fantasy baseball helps promote the baseball industry. At the end of the day, even though MLBAM has lost the opportunity to control the fantasy industry, they will still benefit as the fantasy players become more enthralled with the sport. Perhaps they will not be able to make as much money from Fantasy as they hoped, but they will benefit from having more people involved, offering new games and attracting new customers.

When you reach the end of something, you look back and reflect. As I look back and reflect, I have a renewed confidence in our legal system and the process. At the end of the day, the right thing happened. Powerful people and companies, with enough money to usually get their way, can be reminded that we still have a system that works for the people.

Whoever thought that fantasy baseball would provide a legacy? To the millions of fantasy players now and in the future, something happened here of major significance, and we are all part of it.

It’s not even June yet, and I’m already thinking fantasy football. I don’t like thinking about football in August, heck it’s still baseball season, so thinking about football before June is really strange. Why, you ask? Well, because it’s part of my job!

I was a participant in two mock drafts for our first 2008 fantasy football magazine (we print 4), Fanball.com’s Fantasy Football Weekly Annual Guide. As I studied for the drafts, I realized it was like being back in school (although I don’t ever remember enjoying studying like this in school!). I found out that Kevin Smith could be a nice sleeper if he’s the number one running back in Detroit, and Ahman Green might bounce back and surprise some people. Darren McFadden could be this year’s Adrian Peterson (a rookie who takes the league by storm!).

If you believe you must take a running back with your first pick, it appears there are six who separate themselves from the pack…I’m not telling you who the six are, you’ll have to get the magazine! But the real learning experience came from the draft itself. With 11 highly respected colleagues, each pick provided valuable insight. As the draft unfolded, I realized I should have taken a couple players sooner, and wow, what does he know about that player that I missed?

I also learned it’s never too early to start. Sure, some of our picks will look a bit off in late August, but even then, the experience was worth it. So as the dog days of summer lie ahead, if you are a serious fantasy football player, there’s plenty you can be doing to prepare for the season. It’s easy to read the magazines and start formulating opinions on the players you like, but if you want to know if you have a chance on getting them on your roster this year, consider an early mock draft.

Is there no loyalty?

It’s sacreligious! What has happened with the world? My world turned topsy turvy yesterday when one of my heroes, Jim Edmonds, turned his back on the fans that loved him.

Yeah, you feel sorry for him. Released by San Diego, he can take his services to the bidder of his choice. So the 37-year-old former All-Star gets another chance to prove he still has some fuel in his tank, assuming he can keep his engine running.

He could have taken his $8 million, called it a career, and sat at the bar of his restaurant. But NO, he chose to go to the one place all Cardinal fans despise..the dreaded Cubs!

It can’t be for the money, he won’t get a penny more for wearing traitor blue. Maybe it’s the smell of the grass or the crack of the bat, hopefully his. It should be an interesting 4th of July weekend in St. Louis when the Cubs and their turncoat centerfielder come for a visit.

Hopefully, he who gets the last laugh gets the best laugh. Perhaps his stabilizing influence on the younger Cub players will “help” their performance. Maybe his personal escorted tours of Bourbon Street will be appreciated!

The last 100 years for the Cubbies haven’t gone so good, and hopefully an ex-Cardinal great won’t change it either. Hang in there Jimmy Boy, do your best to help the Cubs lose, and your bar in St. Louis will be a happy place!

I’m not this bad, am I?

When Max Scherzer had less than a good outing in his first major league start Monday, May 5th, I have to admit it brought a little smile to my face. The young Arizona phenom commanded a hefty price in the leagues that I’m in, more than I was willing to pay. Or a faster acting manager had already grabbed him the week before, so Max is not the guy who’s going to turn my pitching staff around!

In his major league debut, Max relieved in the third inning, and proceeded to retire 13 straight batters, seven on strike outs. Thus the hype started. It was just two years ago Max was leading the Missouri Tigers to the NCAA playoffs, then signed on with the Boras get all the money you can get agency. After an almost one year hold out (he signed the night before the next year’s draft, when the Diamondbacks would have lost rights to him), he showed the flashes of why Mr. Boras was able to get him all that money.

The bottom line is I wanted him for my teams, but I didn’t get him (expect for my Diamond Challenge team, where you can take anyone you want…and is one of the reasons it’s the best way to play fantasy baseball!). I wanted to root for the kid to do well, heck, he’s a local boy from St. Louis. But in fantasy, there’s no room for local favorites. If you’re a hard core fantasy player, you root for your players to do well, and everyone else’s to do badly. So now I have to put my hex on Max, and hope he turns out like this year’s other phenom, Johnny Cueto. And remember, those special players who can dominate at an early age are far and few between.

Being a hard core fantasy player is not easy. It’s really hard when I’m at Busch Stadium, dressed in Red, and rooting for a Cardinal victory. But when one of my pitchers is going against the Cardinals, or one of my hitters is up against a Cardinal pitcher, I have mixed emotions. I root for unearned runs, my players to do well and the Cardinals still win. Nobody ever said being a fantasy baseball team owner is easy!

Here we are three weeks into the baseball season, and fantasy players are freaking out.  Sometimes I think we would be better if we didn’t see the standings of our fantasy leagues until May 1st.  With 11% of the season gone, you only have 89% left to fix your team.  “Fix” being the key word, which means you need to admit you made some mistakes with the players that you chose.

For comparison sake, the percentage of the baseball season that is gone would be less than 2 football games, so would you be looking to make massive changes to your football team after the first week?

Every year in October, I put together a “crystal ball” Diamond Challenge baseball team.  I’m always curious if someone could have won the $25,000 grand prize by putting in a team at the beginning of the year and NOT making one change to the team all year. And for 17 years, the answer is yes!  Part of that yes is because you can pick the players with the best stats, but part of that yes is because you weren’t able to “manage”, taking the player out when he was slumping or getting lit up.  When you can make changes, there’s just as good a chance of making the wrong choices as the right ones!  But what fun would that be?

As fantasy baseball owners, part of the fun of playing is managing the team.  So when Ryan Howard is hitting .186 with twice as many strike outs as hits, we ask ourselves, Did I make a big mistake taking him this year?”  Our first urge is to dump him, that bum is keeping my team at the bottom of the standings! The rest of the league must think I’m a buffoon.  And depending on your league rules, you might get a call from some other owner willing to take him off your hands for Casey Kotchman…who he points out is hitting .317, and has the same amount of home runs (four) and RBIs (12) as Howard.  Wow, how can you pass that up?!

Very quickly if you have any desire to win!  You drafted Howard because you expect him to hit close to his career average of .286, and provide you with at least 45 home runs and 130 RBIs.  While Kotchman might hit for a higher average (although his career average is only .271), 20 home runs and 100 RBIs would be a miracle.

The point is you probably had an idea of what every player you drafted for your team would do this year.  Unless you were being overly optimistic (Borowski can get 45 saves again, and this year he’ll keep runners off base), or your player suffers an injury that can affect his stat potential you weren’t counting on (other than JD Drew), you need to give your players a chance to prove you got them right.  Projections can be wrong, but for the most part, especially if you are using good projections (like the Hot Sheet), the players will do what you expect. 

From now till the end of the year, the 89% left is all your team will get.  So if you really believe Ryan Howard will become himself again, the 89% you’ll be getting from him is .300, 41 home runs and 118 RBIs, numbers that most players can only dream about.  If you want the other players in your league to know you’re a buffoon, dump him know and get some player who won’t give you half his numbers.  You’ll secure your spot in that league forever!

ESPN fantasy headliner Matthew Berry has been telling the fantasy world, “You might not win your fantasy league with your first round pick, but you sure can lose it!”  It seems ESPN and the rest of the media world is trying their best to make everyone think Albert Pujols is damaged goods.

Yes, Albert has a bad right elbow.  It’s been bad for three years, but it’s no worse now than it was three years ago.  It was so bad this spring, he only managed to hit .407 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 59 at-bats.  It’s so bad, he’s only been able to lead the team with 46 total bases, along with 11 walks and only two strikeouts.  Yeah, he’s really hurting!

The consensus No. 1 fantasy pick in 2007, King Albert had earned every fantasy player’s desire to be a part of their team.  Over his first seven years of his career, the Saint Louis thumper has averaged .332 BA, 154 games played, 578 at-bats, 40 home runs, 123 RBI and 121 runs scored.  By Pujols’ standards, last year was an “off” year.  He only produced 32 home runs, 103 RBI, 99 runs scored and a .327 average on 565 at-bats in 158 games.

The only year Pujols played less than 154 games was in 2006, when he played 143 and missed some time with foot problems.  But, that did not keep anyone from making Albert the Great a first five pick in 2007 drafts.

There was no media hype last year, and no one at ESPN was scaring you from making Albert a first-round pick.  In fact, they were convincing you he should be the No. 1 overall pick.  And many listened, and many were disappointed with his “off” year.

So when the media scares us this year with reports of the bad elbow, we were all too ready to jump on the bandwagon.  I say “we” because I was sucked in with everyone else.  With most fantasy drafts now over, we might have gotten suckered really good!

And Albert is not very happy with it.  While doing a radio interview with a Cardinal broadcaster this past week, the St. Louis sultan of swat said he was upset over ESPN making such an issue out of his elbow.  “Sure it could go out anytime,” Albert remarked. “It could have gone out anytime during the last three years.  It’s no worse now than it has been the last three years, so why are they making such a big deal about it now?  There’s just as good of a chance of pulling a hamstring or some other injury.”

More importantly, Albert admitted to spending a lot of time this off-season watching video of previous years, and thinks he might have come up with something he was doing wrong.  If his spring performance is any indicator, he might have made the correction. We could all be in for a big rouse this season by the same people who were telling us last year A-ROD was not worthy of a top five pick.

When are we going to learn?  Maybe after Albert, a proud and dedicated professional, goes out and shows us last year was just a hiccup in his Hall of Fame career. ESPN and the media hype have given him that extra bit of drive needed to prove them wrong.  Look out, here comes an MVP season again!

Everybody’s doing it, so I thought I would join in.  If you have something to say these days, say it in a blog.  For those who know me, I always have something to say!  For those who don’t, I hope I can entertain you a little.

I’ve been playing fantasy sports for over 25 years, and been in the industry for 17 years.  What started out as a friendly game with co-workers at the newspaper I worked at, turned into an obsession with a career and life change!  Being inducted into the FSTA Fantasy Sports Hall Of Fame has been a highlight, and I’ve been called both the Godfather and Grandfather of Fantasy Sports. I guess a lot people think I’m old and wise, which I’ll use to my advantage if I’m in a league with you!  I’ll be the poor old guy who appears to not know what he’s doing, so feel sorry for me!  When I win, remember it’s not personal, it’s business!  This is my business.

Some think I’ve helped save the industry because of my involvement with “the case”, MLBAM/MLBPA vs CBC.  That’s the one where the big bad boys at Major League Baseball thought they would just take over the fantasy baseball industry and put all the companies who started it out of business.  Well, not everybody.  Those willing to pay MLBAM/MLBPA a couple mil a year, they would let play with them for a while.

Eventually, this will all be over and fantasy sports players will be the winners.  But that day was put on hold again as the people with more money than sense decided to spend some more of it.  MLBAM and MLBPA just appealed the decision of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth District to the Supreme Court of the United States!  Hard to believe that the highest Court in our land might now decide the fate of fantasy players everywhere.  I say “might” because the chances of them actually deciding to hear the case are very slim.  I think even the guys spending all the money know that also, but if I was working for one of their law firms, and I saw a chance to make as much money as some of the players, I’d go for it also.  Hey, even when they lose, they still get paid….a lot!  Lucky for them, we have this system so they can continue to appeal and get those new Ferrari’s.  And while they’re discussing with each other what color they want, they get to bill a zillion dollars an hour to the folks at MLBAM/MLBPA.

If I seem a little sarcastic, please forgive me.  I’m the one who had to sell my 3-year-old VW to pay our attorneys!  Well not actually, but we have had to foot the bill for this whole affair, and I could be living very happily on some Island for what it has cost.

I’d much rather be talking about fantasy baseball than the legal system, so the sooner the Supreme Court tells them to take a walk, the better!  As the BAM boys are about to suffer another shutout loss, I’m going to prepare for my next baseball draft.  One I know I will win!