fantasy football history
Welcome! I'm excited to dive into the history of fantasy football with you.
To help me tailor our journey through the history of this great hobby, what is your personal interest in fantasy football? Are you currently playing in a league, or are you just curious about how the game evolved into the massive phenomenon it is today?
I play in a league and want to know how it all started.
From a New York Hotel to the GOPPPL
It might surprise you to learn that the multi-billion dollar hobby we love didn't start in an office with programmers or tech gurus. It actually began in a smoky New York City hotel room in 1962.
, a businessman and part-owner of the AFL's Oakland Raiders, was traveling with the team on a cross-country trip. Frustrated by yet another losing season and looking for a way to stay deeply engaged with the sport, he gathered Raiders public relations employee Bill Tunnel and Oakland Tribune reporter Scotty Stirling. Together, they sketched out a game that allowed them to 'draft' real players and score points based on their actual performance.
The very next year, in 1963, they officially launched the world's first fantasy football league in Oakland, naming it the (the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League).
Your path
The Pre-Internet Era & Early Innovations (1970s-80s)
The Online Revolution (1990s-Present)
Now that you know how the original architects designed the very first rules of the game, let's explore how this private, highly exclusive Oakland league managed to escape California and find its way to the public.