Apr 15, 2016 · Before the Internet became a widespread tool for sports fans and research junkies alike, there were decades of proto-fantasy and fantasy sports with no help save the daily broadsheets.

Dec 8, 2015 · Check out an overview of the lengthy history of fantasy sports. 1960s: Long before computers and smartphone technology, the groundwork of fantasy sports was laid. According to reports, former owner of the Oakland Raiders Wilfred …

GOPPPL -- and by extension, all fantasy sports -- captured the most compelling aspect of the web, before the web ever existed. They were social networks, Facebook before Facebook, a way for people to connect over space and time.

Fantasy football has steered media giants such as ESPN, Yahoo, and DirectTV to cater specifically to the needs and wants of the fantasy sports player. Fantasy football helped spawn improvements in the way that fans view television, laptops, and cell phones while changing the way that sports are viewed.

A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete based on the statistical performance of those players in actual games.

The first fantasy football league appeared in 1963 thanks to Bill Winkenbach. Winkenbach was a part owner of the Oakland Raiders when he created the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPPL).

Aug 28, 2014 · Fantasy football grew organically in various and varied parts of the nation, long before the internet became ubiquitous enough to serve as a homogenizing force. Why is it that this one very narrow variant survived, thrived, and crowded out the competition?

I thought it was a bitch even 5-10 years ago on the internet, fantasy sites didn't update your points til the next day or even later that week. I would just try to guess who won based on which players did well, much like you had to; but some of my more dedicated friends would go to ESPN.com/NFL.com to add up the stats, and have running up to ...

So, let's fire up the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to the early days of online fantasy sports. The Internet Archive takes me back as far as 1996. But, even then, there were fantasy leagues online. Often, these sites were part of the transition from mail/phone/fax fantasy baseball.

It includes everything from the origins of fantasy baseball and fantasy football, through the first magazines, books, websites, stat services, high stakes games, worldwide expansion, etc., etc.