Fantasy football provides entertainment, boosts social ties. But experts say high stakes may cause stress. (2024)

More than 29 million people play fantasy football each season, ranging from casual office, friend and family groups to high-stakes buy-in leagues. And with the 2024-25 NFL season kicking off Thursday night, fantasy players will be putting the finishing touches on their rosters in hopes of dominating their league and earning bragging rights (and maybe even some money).

Fans of fantasy football say it adds an extra layer of entertainment to the games they’re watching. More importantly, it also gives them a sense of community, whether they’re competing against co-workers or strangers online. For some people, it’s a way of staying in touch with old friends; for others, it’s an opportunity to find common ground and connect with fellow sports fans.

But are there any downsides to playing fantasy football? Here’s what experts say about the growing game and its effect on our mental health.

The pros

One of the biggest benefits of playing fantasy football is the social interactions it involves. As Arlen Moller, a professor of psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, told American Heart Association News last year, the “foundational versions of the season-long game are usually played between friends and family.” According to Moller — who noted that he himself belongs to a fantasy football league that keeps him connected to college buddies living around the world — these social interactions can offset feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Behind the social factor, Renee Miller, a professor in the department of brain and cognitive science at the University of Rochester in New York, sees another bonus. She tells Yahoo Life that playing fantasy football — which involves processing rankings, analyzing player strengths and weaknesses, strategizing week to week — can also be a mind-strengthening exercise.

“It’s a problem-solving activity,” Miller says. “It forces you to think of things maybe in different ways, makes you do research … so it can be a brain-strengthener.”

There are also the positive effects of being a sports fan in general. As media psychologist Pamela Rutledge previously told Yahoo Life, identifying with a team or player can foster a deeper sense of community and self-esteem. “Group membership helps shape an individual’s self-image,” Rutledge explained. Seeing your favorite team or the players you’ve added to your roster succeed, therefore, can be a real high.

The cons

Of course, as anyone who has seen their team crash out of the playoffs can attest, it’s not all wins. That can bring disappointment to any fan, but the added emotional investment of playing fantasy football can make a loss or bad performance particularly stressful and hard to swallow.

And not all investments are purely emotional; the stakes are higher when money is on the line. Though its focus was on fantasy soccer — which, in the case of the Premier League, runs for 38 weeks compared to the NFL’s 18, representing a bigger commitment for fantasy players — a U.K. study published this summer found that players involved in more cash-prize leagues had the most mental health concerns.

That same study also found that mental health concerns were most likely to be reported among those who considered themselves highly engaged with the game, spent more time monitoring their fantasy team’s performance and frequently compared their team to those of other competitors. But study co-author Gary Britton, of the Queen Mary University of London, noted that the news wasn’t all bad.

“While the results of the study might seem worrying on the one hand, on the other hand all of these involved/engaged groups also reported more positive mood as a result of playing [fantasy soccer] compared to people who are less involved/engaged in the game,” he said in a statement.

According to Jennifer Eakins, a fantasy football expert who has contributed to outlets including Yahoo, casual players who are in several leagues may spend between three to five hours a week managing their team. When there’s a sizable sum of money to be won and the level of competitiveness rises, so does the time spent on crafting the perfect team.

“When you're missing friends or loved ones' events in order to focus on setting lineups or staying on your phone for the entire family dinner checking scores and injury reports, you're probably overdoing it,” Eakins tells Yahoo Life.

“Too much of anything can be a bad thing,” adds Miller, who teaches classes about mental disorders and writes a lot about fantasy football. “I think some people can become addicted to fantasy football, especially in some of the daily games.” Daily fantasy games, Miller notes, can be more isolating as people typically do it alone, and because it follows a model that’s similar to sports betting — creating parlays to multiply earning potential — issues with addiction are easier to come about. “This is where there is danger of addiction around daily fantasy: winning and then wanting to chase that good feeling you get when you win,” Miller says.

How to play responsibly

There are processes and safeguards players can put in place to protect from overextending themselves, emotionally and financially. “The easiest thing you can do is set an amount each week and that’s the amount that's in my account,” Ben Heisler, host of the Benny & the Bets podcast, tells Yahoo Life.

When it comes to season-long fantasy games, Eakins says players have to make a choice not to spread themselves too thin. “Making the decision to cut back on the volume and actually doing it can be freeing for those who feel like it's too much of a time commitment or those who get flack from their spouses or partners for time spent [playing],” she says.

Miller agrees that although there may be negative effects for some players, there are benefits that outweigh the risks for most people.

“You can have too much of anything, whether it’s food, gambling or sex or fantasy football,” she says. “There’s healthy and there’s unhealthy ranges ... but I think it’s relatively rare. I’ve yet to come into contact with someone who has a legitimate mental problem due to their fantasy play.”

Yahoo News is part of Yahoo, which also owns Yahoo Fantasy Sports. Yahoo News maintains editorial independence.

Fantasy football provides entertainment, boosts social ties. But experts say high stakes may cause stress. (2024)

FAQs

Fantasy football provides entertainment, boosts social ties. But experts say high stakes may cause stress.? ›

But experts say high stakes may cause stress. More than 29 million people play fantasy football each season, ranging from casual office, friend and family groups to high-stakes buy-in leagues.

Is fantasy football good for your mental health? ›

“When your Fantasy Football team does badly you are more likely to feel down if you are more financially invested in the game, or if you are just invested in the game more generally, but equally, if your Fantasy Football team performs well in any given week, this is going to positively boost the mood of an engaged ...

Can fantasy football lead to mental health decline study claims? ›

Researchers found that players who spent a high amount of time comparing their fantasy football team with those of other players reported poorer mental health, while those who frequently checked how their team was performing had poorer mental health than those who did that less.

Why do people love fantasy football so much? ›

It's an excuse to get together. It's a way to engage." Bob Lung, founder of Big Guy Fantasy Sports agrees: "Whether it's a work league, friends league or family league, it's a way for them to be together, talk, trade, and trash talk."

What has caused the increased participation in fantasy sports? ›

The growth of the internet has fueled the increase in fantasy sports participation and the rise of fantasy football in particular, which in turn has helped fuel NFL ratings.

Is fantasy good for mental health? ›

In conclusion, reading fantasy books can bring many benefits to our mental and emotional health, as well as our cognitive development. Through the power of immersive reading, we can escape from our problems and relax our minds, stimulate our creativity, and improve our memory and critical thinking skills.

Why do people quit fantasy football? ›

There are plenty of good reasons to leave your league such as personal issues, stress, league cheating, and playing in too many NFL fantasy leagues.

How does football affect players mental health? ›

The pressure to deliver results can also ramp up and there are lots of unknowns, which can cause: a lack of energy, leaving you drained and demotivated. feelings of isolation if you are new to the country. feelings of dread like something bad is going to happen.

Can sports negatively affect mental health? ›

The Mental Health Risks Linked to Sports

The same study noted above found that individual sports participation is associated with the following mental health risks: 16% increased risk of anxiety/depression. 14% higher risk of withdrawal/depression. 12% higher score on social problems.

How can social media affect mental health? ›

Social media can negatively impact our overall wellbeing by fueling anxiety, depression, loneliness and FOMO (fear or missing out). These issues are especially prevalent in teens and young adults. Social media is here to stay and will continue to evolve and become more invasive.

Is fantasy football a skill or luck? ›

So, buckle up, delve into the statistics, keep track of player performance, and rely on your strategy to win the game. Remember, your victories are not flukes but a reflection of your tact and strategy, sprinkled with a dash of luck. The MIT study has spoken – fantasy sports are, indeed, a game of skill.

What WTF is fantasy sports? ›

A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport.

Why do people love fantasy so much? ›

Fantasy literature offers the reader much of what general fiction offers — escape and adventure — but it goes far beyond the familiar realm of belief. It allows us to enter a world of "contrasts and opposites", to break away from the entrapment of realism.

What is the psychology of fantasy sports? ›

Success and failure in fantasy sports can trigger a wide range of emotions, including joy, frustration, and even anger. The emotional rollercoaster adds an element of excitement and unpredictability, which keeps participants engaged.

What percentage of Americans play fantasy sports? ›

Currently, 23% of Americans aged 18+ participate in sports betting. And 19% of Americans aged 18+ participate in fantasy sports. The fantasy sports number has grown from 13% in 2014, while sports betting has grown from 19% in 2019. 81% of fantasy sports players bet on sports in 2022 compared to 78% in 2018.

Is fantasy football still popular? ›

As of 2022, 29.2 million players in the United States participated in fantasy football, making it the most-played U.S. fantasy sport by a significant margin.

Does football help with mental health? ›

Regular exercise is known to release endorphins, which can reduce stress and anxiety while promoting a more positive mood. Stress Relief: Engaging in physical activity, such as playing football, can help reduce stress by promoting the release of stress hormones and providing an outlet for tension.

Is fantasy football good for you? ›

While the results of the study show that a player's mood can be positively affected by playing Fantasy Football if they are invested in the game, the fact that it can also negatively affect their mood, and mental health, is concerning.

Is it healthy to live in a fantasy? ›

Rather, it can be an entirely good thing as it can act as a way to explore alternative possibilities of how life could unfold or just be a release valve after a particularly stressful day. However, there's no doubt that fantasizing can easily tip from being healthy and normal to being unhealthy and abnormal.

What sport is hardest on mental health? ›

Chess – Chess is often considered one of the most mentally challenging sports, as players must think multiple moves ahead, anticipate their opponent's strategies, and maintain concentration over long games.

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