When was Fantasy Football invented?

It’s 2024. Football fans are gearing up for another exciting NFL season.

This is also an exciting time for fantasy football managers. Fantasy football has come a long way right from its inception in 1962.

Fantasy football has been growing in universality and admiration in recent years. The sport of fantasy football has seen a hockey stick growth in its popularity among the football fans, especially in recent times.

There have been a lot of factors for this growth, few of them being the development of digital infrastructure and the access to sports across the globe and many more.

As we prepare to enter another season for a thrilling fantasy football season, it is important to look back at where everything started and appreciate the journey.

With the 2024 fantasy football season on the horizon, be sure to check out our free Dynasty Trade Calculator to lock down your squad for the year.

The history of fantasy football

As we mentioned briefly earlier, fantasy football dates way back to over 60 years back to 1962.

The first ever fantasy football league was known as the Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPL). Why Oakland?

It all began in the year 1962 when Bill Winkenbach, who was a part-owner of the Oakland Raiders football team at the time, gathered with a few buddies in a hotel in New York City.

Winkenbach and his friends had a pretty simple objective - to pick players from the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL) into their fantasy team. Based on the performances of these players in the NFL and AFL, these friends would earn points to compete against each other.

Now that the concept of fantasy football was invented by Bill Winkenbach, it had to be taken to the masses. And this is where Andy Mousalimas, one of the founding fathers of fantasy football, plays a significant role in the spreading of fantasy football.

Andy Mousalimas was born in Oakland and was a war hero. In 1963, Mousalimas conducted the first ever fantasy football draft in Kings X sports bar in Oakland. With the first pick in the first ever fantasy draft, Mousalimas drafted George Blanda of the Houston Oilers.

Andy Mousalimas was also instrumental in creating the first Fantasy baseball and golf leagues. He was later nicknamed as the “father of fantasy sports” by Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association.

Also Read: How To Play Fantasy Footbal in 2024?- A Complete Beginner’s Guide

How has fantasy football changed and grown in the last 60+ years?

Fantasy football has come a long way. The first Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League (GOPPL) had 16 members in total. From roster formation to scoring, the GOPPL was very different from modern day fantasy football.

In the earlier days of fantasy football, the roster usually consisted of a 20-man roster. The starting lineup had one quarterback, multiple half backs, multiple wide receivers/tight ends and a fullback. When it came to the scoring, 25 points were awarded for offensive touchdowns, 25 points for a field goal, 200 points for D/ST touchdowns.

Modern fantasy football has 10-12 teams in a fantasy league with a 16-man roster. The starting lineup usually consists of a quarterback, multiple running backs and wide receivers, tight end, one kicker and a defense/special teams unit.

The scoring system usually awards 4 points for a passing touchdown and 6 points for rushing touchdowns and defensive touchdowns, 1 point for 25 passing yards and 1 point per reception.

Also Read: Fantasy football scoring: How does it work?