As football season begins, so does the assembly of fantasy teams. According to the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association, 19% of Americans aged 18 and older participate in fantasy sports, with 79% of all fantasy participants playing fantasy football. Fantasy football teams typically consist of 14 to 16 players who are “drafted” and the team is run throughout the season by “managers” who compete for a league title. 

An exciting twist to the fantasy landscape this year is the creation of a fantasy site focusing on players and teams from the NESCAC Conference, known as Fantasy NESCAC. It was created by Caleb Adams-Hull ‘24 and his classmates William Warlick ‘24 and Will Jorgensen ‘24 from Bowdoin College, Fantasy NESCAC allows managers to create leagues and construct their fantasy teams utilizing current NESCAC football players.  

The concept for Fantasy NESCAC was born out of disappointment that there were no existing options to create a league focused on NESCAC peers. “We lived in an apartment next to the football field our junior year and saw dedicated parents and fans of our football team show up to home games rain or shine. The passion of these fans made us believe there could be a desire for a fantasy sports platform for the NESCAC. We also wanted to learn how to build a website and thought this would be a great excuse to do so,” Adams-Hull said.   

The Fantasy NESCAC team completed their platform during the summer and encountered their share of challenges along the way. “We found the live draft functionality to be difficult to build because we wanted to make sure that the draft continually updated as league members make their selections without requiring a page refresh,” Adams-Hull said.  “Additionally, there is an incomplete database of statistics regarding player performance, and not all teams have published their fall 2024 roster.” 

So, where does the Fantasy NESCAC team go from here? The current plan is to conduct an intensive guerilla marketing campaign, plastering NESCAC schools with posters to spread the word. Furthermore, they plan to expand the platform to other sports with an eye toward hockey and lacrosse. “The goal is to get people to use the platform and be excited about NESCAC sports,” Adams-Hull said.  We also want to make the athletes feel recognized by their peers.”