What's Wrong With

I started Fantasy Football Bookmarks because the links that I found, on those internet sites that serviced the fantasy football community, were very deficient in providing good links, links that were updated, and links that were categorized to help you find the information you were looking for. In short, I found a niche that needed improving and attempted to fill that need. I've been doing this for a couple of years now and the fantasy football industry has grown substantially. Now there is money to be made. Resultantly, I'm seeing a disturbing trend that needs to be addressed, by you, the fantasy football consumer.

In the 1990's there was little information available for fantasy football enthusiast on the internet. We were very happy to find a site that provided even poor rankings, projections, news etc. Any information was better than no information at all. The industry has grown substantially since then and now, sites that once offered their information for free are charging for this information. I have no problem with that. If they offer a good product they should be able to make some money off of their hard work. However, what I'm seeing is that with the advent of pay subscription sites, in most cases, the product has NOT improved to the point where you can justify paying for their service. For example, the vast majority of pay subscription sites have rankings. You will usually see a top 50 listing of names from number 1 through number 50. But, what does this really tell you as the consumer of their product? A toddler could pull names out of a hat and make a list of the top 50 running backs.

To be fair, most of these sites are run by very well known and highly respected fantasy football enthusiasts who put a lot of hard work and effort into making their rankings as accurate as possible. I'm sure they go through a very methodical analytical process to determine where one player will be ranked as opposed to another. However, you are not privy to that analytical process. You have to take what is presented to you, in their rankings, and blindly take faith that the end result will be beneficial to you. If you were privy to their thought process you may disagree and choose to adjust your rankings accordingly, you may learn something you were unaware of that will help you in your fantasy draft or, you may see that this pay subscription site does not do a thorough job and you could choose to spend your money elsewhere. Some sites have adopted an "Average Draft" approach where multiple drafters make up their draft boards and a value is given for each position. A ranking is then compiled using the average number a player receives. This is significantly better than using just one person's draft as it balances out individual preferences but, you still don't have the luxury of seeing the analysis that was done by each drafter to justify their rankings.

What I would like to see all fantasy football consumers demand of their pay subscription sites is very simple. Show your work. Not dissimilar to a high school algebra teacher not just asking for the answer to a problem, but showing how you came to that conclusion by showing your work. It is my very strong belief that if a site is willing to take your money to provide rankings, projections, cheatsheets etc. to you, you should be able to see how they came to their conclusion. Then, you as the consumer, can determine if their thought process makes since, they have done the necessary homework to justify the fee they charge, and their end result actually benefits you in your draft.

There should, in my view, be at least a paragraph explaining why a player is listed where he is. This write-up should cover some historical information/stats, possible competition that could impact on his performance this season, whether there is an injury that should be taken into account, whether any coaching changes or philosophy will affect his performance this season, and what you can expect from this player this year. Granted, this kind of detail requires quite a bit of research and work but, if you are going to charge for your services, it is the least that you should be expected to provide to your clients. I would love to see all sites do even more like provide last three year stats, provide projections for each pick, and provide detailed analysis as to whether a player should improve or retreat from last year's performance. In short, what I want to see is something written down that I can hopefully learn from, derive some cogent information from and become more educated as a fantasy football owner.

Keep in mind, as the fantasy football industry grows, there are new fantasy football players coming each year. Most are not aware of the differences in fantasy football and NFL football. Differences that could significantly affect their draft. These folks need to have well written explanations to help them enter the fantasy football community and be competitive immediately. For those of us that have played for a couple of years, we need some help too. We need to get better educated on players that we don't normally get a chance to see much of. We should be able to get this information from our pay subscription sites. We just have to demand it.

If you don't demand this of your sites, you take a very big risk that some sites may just shuffle their rankings once a week with no apparent rhyme or reason. As I said before, most sites are honorable and would not do this but, you don't know which ones might. When a player gets moved up or down from previous rankings there should be a note explaining the reason.

Fortunately, there are sites out there that notice the need to fill this information niche. They are offering very good write-ups and deep analysis for each of their selections. The downside is that their rankings are usually limited to only the top tier players. As I said, this type of analysis is very difficult and time consuming but, having an analysis for the top players is better than not having any analysis done for any players. Some sites are offering excellent articles on which player should be taken over another. Two writers go head to head to justify their picks. You can learn an awful lot by reading these type of articles. You may choose to agree or disagree but, in the end, you are a much better informed fantasy owner than you would be otherwise.

The vast majority of these sites are relatively new to the fantasy football internet world and not very well known. Don't necessarily default to the old guns that have been around for years when you are seeking out fantasy football information. You may find a better product, at little or no cost, by checking out some new sites. However, if you do choose to stay with your pay subscription site, demand that they provide better products and services that you, as the consumer, can use.

Don Pinchin

Fantasy Football Bookmarks

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