It’s been a while since I last posted, sorry about that. I’ll try to post something weekly. So what was it that got my attention and made me want to comment?

The Fidelity investment firm fired 4 people for playing fantasy football…here’s the link to the story. http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.startelegram.com/business/story/1825336.html&ct=ga&cd=8wtkUfEsoj4&usg=AFQjCNG2ygWB39ezNXg785yQH4WpUFg6w

Said Fidelity spokesman Vin Loporchio: “We have clear policies that relate to gambling. Participation in any form of gambling through the use of Fidelity time or equipment or any other company resource is prohibited. In addition to being illegal in a lot of places, it can also be disruptive. We want our employees to be focused on our customers and clients.”

While I have no problems with Fidelity having such policies, I do have a major problem with Mr. Loporchio’s assertion that fantasy football is some form of gambling. Perhaps Mr. Loporchio should review that guidelines that were established in the carve out language used in the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act that became law in October of 2006.

Here’s what was passed into law if Mr. Loporchio would like to review it and see if his employees were engaged in something other than this…

(ix) participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports organization (as those terms are defined in section 3701 of title 28) and that meets the following conditions:

(I) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.

(II) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals (athletes in the case of sports events) in multiple real-world sporting or other events.

(III) No winning outcome is based—(aa) on the score, point-spread, or any performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combination of such teams; or (bb) solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single real-world sporting or other event.

With over 25 million people playing fantasy sports games in our country, and probably many of them Fidelity customers or potential customers, this is a tough stance for them to take. They run the risk of many of their customers closing their accounts and moving them to other companies, as many fantasy football players would not like to do business with a company that feels they are gamblers or misinterprets the laws of our government…interesting because some might believe it’s more like gambling when their customers are investing funds with them!

I for one will be canceling any account I have with fidelity on Monday!

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!