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Fantasy Football began its 18-week season on Sept. 4.
Fantasy Football returns as NFL teams exit pre-season, kicking off the 18-week season and bringing back one of the hottest seasonal crazes. Dating back to the 1960s, Fantasy Football is an online game people participate in, making “dream-teams” of NFL players and battling it out in games versus other participants.
Fantasy Football begins in the weeks leading up to the first official NFL game. In 2025, the first official NFL game will take place on Sept. 4, meaning over 10 million Fantasy teams will kick off competition as the professional season begins.
Teams earn points based on the statistics of each real-life football player and how well they played in their most recent games. The main objective during the season is to win the most games and beat opponents, all depending on players and statistics. Taking the game to the next level, people will set various prizes and punishments for winners and losers, making the stakes of a virtual game higher than ever.
Popular punishments seen across America include things like Social Media takeovers, Open Mic nights and the extreme – haircuts. Fresno Christian junior Blake Bay faced a big punishment for losing at the end of the season and had to shave his head.
“I thought the right thing to do was be a team player, so I went ahead and buzzed,” Bay said. “I’m playing again this year, but it will be different because I will not lose and have a punishment.”
The game begins with a league, either public or private, commonly allowing 10-14 participants. The person who makes the league is responsible for all of the parts of the setup including league names, league size, draft types, point systems and much more.
Gavin Hoffman, ‘26, runs his own league for this season, inviting other senior boys to join the league in hopes to bond and have an action-packed season.
“I have been doing Fantasy since freshman year with my grade for fun,” Hoffman said. “I run a 14-man league this year with 16 players per team and we’re doing a snake draft. My favorite part is tuning into the game weekly and getting deeper into football during the season.”
With five draft types, more than 1500 players to pick from and over a dozen joinable leagues per participant, winning odds are left to pure statistics or luck. Drafting a team is the foundation of the season, likely to other professional sports such as basketball and football.
The five draft types leave options for how a league runs its season, either methodically planned and studied or purely based on luck.
Fantasy Football also relies on the in-season technicalities. Staying up to date with teams and players is vital to success in the game. Trades are mainly navigated based on statistics and injuries, used to better a roster by switching out players’ mid-season.
Matchups are the weekly games where teams go head-to-head, leaving wins and losses scattered across the league. These matchups will set up playoffs coming in the later weeks of Fantasy, ultimately setting up few teams for in-reach success.
First-time participant Natalie Garcia, ‘26, dominated her league last year with no prior knowledge of the game and a high-win streak.
“I had low expectations going into Fantasy football because I had very little knowledge on football or how any drafting processes worked, which made it difficult at first but by week eight I got the hang of it,” Garcia said. “Winning Fantasy football was definitely unexpected, and I think everyone was surprised but I will forever brag about it because I proved my name, “THE WINNER” to be true.”
As Fantasy kicks off this season, players are keeping track of the important dates aligning with the NFL in hopes to stay up to date with their teams. The 18-week long season includes various dates spread across the calendar.
Important Dates:
Last NFL Preseason Game- Aug. 23, 2025
First NFL Game- Sept. 4, 2025
Playoffs for Fantasy- Week 15-18
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