Middle school boys love fantasy football, a game which lets the player draft a team of players from the National Football League, and sit back as the players accrue points based on their real-life performances.
The team of nine players who scores the most points within the span of a game week (Thursday, Sunday and Monday) wins.

But why is it that girls don’t have the same appreciation for this digital pastime as boys?

“I play because it is something that doesn’t take too long and is fun to play against friends,” BMS seventh grader Teddy Deutsch said.

He started playing when he was 10. He says that it interests him because of the connection to the real-life sport that it has and the suspense that a close game can build.

According to the Eric Allen Hall of the “Washington Post,” an estimated 59.3 million people in the United States play fantasy football. Of that number, 17.2 million are women and girls.

The NFL markets strongly towards men because boys generally seem to enjoy watching people batter each other for an hour more than girls. But there is an increase in the number of girls and women who join fantasy leagues.

According to Danny Rubin of the “Huffingtonpost”, “The growth of female fantasy football participation parallels the growth of social media since 2008. The rise of blogging and the use of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and the popularity of group chats have created space for communities to come together to share the love of the sport, tips and insights, and of course the space to rehash the game of the week and player performance.”

This shows how the mainstream coverage of fantasy football rubs off on internet users and incentivizes them to play.

Ms. Samantha Gettings, a sixth grade LA teacher, is an avid fantasy football player.
She has been playing since 2014, and enjoys how it makes watching the game more interesting. “It makes games more exciting, because you need the people that you’re watching to do well for your team to do well in fantasy.”

Rubin of the Huffington Post says in his article, “Why Your Wife/Girlfriend Needs To Play Fantasy Football” sees how participating in fantasy sports for everyone is a bonding experience for many and a way to join conversations in the office or at school.
“Having your own team will ensure you’re always up on the conversation, especially in the office. Whenever guys start rambling on (ahem, complaining) about their fantasy teams, you’ll actually understand what we’re saying and gain major cred.”

So maybe girls do appreciate fantasy football as much as boys, and are coming around to the sport of football because of the change of gear that the NFL has made in their marketing strategies, which includes the feminization of many products, like t-shirts and memorabilia. Plus, with significant others around them that watch and appreciate football as much as they do, it’s no surprise that women are starting to enjoy fantasy football.