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Those of you know have read my articles or listened to my show on SiriusXM radio, you know that I tend to have some strong opinions. Every now and then I will rant and rave about a topic that is important to me. Luckily (or unlucky I suppose) as Assistant G.M. subscribers you will receive one of these rants in your email box every week. It’s a little thing that I like to call: One MANS Opinion.

I love daily fantasy sports (DFS). The ability to build a brand new lineup each and every day based on the absolute latest information is the epitome of what these games are about. If you love sports and like to play fantasy sports then why wouldn’t you enjoy having the ability to play only on the days that you are engaged and feel good about the matchups?

But something has been bothering me lately. It actually has bothered me for awhile now but the fire is burning much hotter these days. I truly dislike the way that the DFS industry is being promoted and portrayed. Recent episodes of ESPN’s Outside The Lines and HBO Real Sports have done so called in-depth stories on daily fantasy sports. I really didn’t care for either story to be honest with you. Sure it’s nice when any major news agency takes notice of the fantasy sports industry but not when they are going to focus solely on the monetary risks and rewards.

Painting the DFS industry as a group of people throwing their hard earned money at a chance to become an overnight millionaire is just plain wrong. I’ve played fantasy sports for 25 years in every type of sport with every range of entry free you could imagine. Fantasy sports have never been about the money. Sure it is nice to get that end of season check after closing out a championship but that wasn’t why these games were created nor why we have continued to develop and refine them over the years.

Promoting the fact that there are people that have quit their jobs in order to focus on a playing DFS as a profession is a bad idea. We are walking in the exact footsteps of the online poker industry by doing this and that is quite simply a terrible idea.

DFS isn’t a get rich quick scheme. The people who have been able to build a career out of playing and advising others are a very select group. It is not a sustainable occupation for the vast majority of the public that are hearing these stories.

Furthermore the daily sites keep promoting the fact that they are giving X amount of millions of dollars away each day, week or season. It’s not that they are promoting the prizes they are awarding that I dislike. It is the fact that they are ONLY promoting the prize pools that they are awarding.

There is so much more to offer in daily fantasy sports than just money. Yet that is all that we ever hear about. Just once I would like to see a commercial for a DFS site that talks about competition, the camaraderie or the knowledge aspect of playing fantasy sports on a daily or weekly level.

By doing nothing else but constantly harping on the million dollar grand prize being awarded in these contests we are setting unrealistic goals for 99.9% of daily fantasy sports players. This habit will eventually turn off many players and create the image that DFS is just some random lottery type of setup. That is the fallback that people go to when they feel as if they don’t have a legitimate chance to win the prize that was dangled in front of them when they signed up.

The fact is that DFS is and should be viewed as an extension of your regular tried and true seasonal fantasy leagues. Expect daily leagues offer you the ability and opportunity to react to the latest news, injuries and matchups in real time. To me, DFS is the essence of being successful at fantasy sports. But it isn’t easy. Putting together a new lineup each and every day or week takes a lot of research, planning and hard work. Many of us welcome that challenge and look forward to proving we have what it takes to win at the daily level. And sure in the process we could wind up making some money. But that just cannot be the reason why you are playing.

I wish that others in the DFS industry would see this point of view. I really don’t know how they can watch these stories and think they are good for the future of the industry we all love. I know that our culture seems to gravitate towards money and that so many people want to find a way to get rich without the hard work. But it makes me sad to think we have to use this approach to sell a game that can already make millions of sports and fantasy sports fans happy by itself.

I’m sure that my opinion on this topic will not be a popular one especially among the die hard DFS players. The smart ones though know that these points are valid and my concerns are real. We can all keep pretending that this growth will last forever. The DFS industry needs to be more open and understanding of what the massive amounts of new and inexperienced players are going to go through. The one thing that nobody wants to feel like is that they got cheated. Losing is something that sports fans are adept at dealing with. But they also get mad as hell when they are told one thing and given another.

Let’s promote the good of the game and the thrill of playing fantasy sports on a daily basis. That is something that everybody can rally around and enjoy no matter what the outcome is on any given night.

Of course, what do I know? I am just a frosted tip radio show host who has dedicated his life to commenting on sports. You may not agree, but that is OK because this was just One MANS Opinion.