Fantasy football is big.
It's not big because millions of Americans are playing, it's not big because it dwarfs all the other fantasy leagues, it's big because it has invaded our psyche and embedded itself into our everyday lives.
We see pop-culture references to fantasy football in commercials, movies and in T.V. shows. fantasy football has always been a fringe joke - small filler material to make those in know laugh.
Until now.
There is not one, but two popular shows with fantasy football as the main focus. FX broadcasts the television series The League and there is the web series Fantasy Over Reality. The premise of both shows is the same - show the humor and obsession that we have with playing fantasy football in a way that is entertaining.
The similarities between the shows end there. Whereas one show, The League, is based more on humor and borderline obscene jokes; the other, Fantasy Over Reality, takes a milder, more league-based approach.
The League concerns the lives of five adults and the way that fantasy football can consume someone's life so completely. During the premier episode one of the characters, Kevin, makes a fantasy trade involving a real life criminals jail time. In the world that The League exists in the number six pick and a possible ten-year jail term can be dropped down to five-years by swapping the number one pick.
Scenarios like this populate the show. The characters' lives are always on display: Pete is splitting up with his wife, Ruxin can't get any "action" from his, Kevin is the commissioner and his wife may or may not run his team. Andre is the annoying friend who has money and is really just there because they don't have anyone better to replace him with. Taco, Kevin's brother, is everything you don't want your children to grow up to be. He's a crude, pot-smoking bum who doesn't seem to even know that he's playing in the league, despite the fact he won it one year.
Fantasy Over Reality takes a somewhat "softer" approach and forgoes the graphic language and situations of The League with an emphasis on what is actually happening between the teams. The main character is the commish, Cam Tilton, and his best friend Rhett Hayes. The league's defending champion is Rhett's wife, Andie. She has never lost to Rhett and their constant bickering about their teams playing one another is a constant source of amusement. Other characters include Cam's family - little brother, Neil, and his English cousin, Ike.
The best thing about the show is that real NFL players make cameo appearances. Maurice Jones-Drew, Mike Sims-Walker, Rashad Jennings and Andre Johnson. Matt Forte will be making an appearance in a future episode as well.
Including the players is great already but making them active characters in the show's plot is just classic. It's so good it's doubleplusgood. Rhett believes you have to find your fantasy players and give them a pep talk if you want them to perform, just like a coach does. Jones-Drew even admits to drafting himself with his first pick in his own league.
Extra kudos should be given to the guys behind Fantasy Over Reality for their viral marketing. I only found out about the show because of this.
I watched the pilot for The League and went to "Become a fan" of it on Facebook. A scant few minutes after I pressed the little button I got a message suggesting that if I liked that show I would like this other show, Fantasy Over Reality. I can only surmise that they have something set up that will automatically alert anyone who likes The League that there is another show. Is this a little sneaky? Yes. Is it absolutely brilliant? Yes.
Fantasy Over Reality also has a twitter feed that users can subscribe to @OverReality.
Shows like these could only exist and be popular in a world where fantasy football has become more than just a game that adult males play because they couldn't hack it at real football. We have embraced the "sport" and turned it into something more than a hobby. We have made it just another part of the American way of life.
