The Birth of High Stakes Fantasy

[lschechter]

The following is an excerpt from my new book “The History of Fantasy Sports: And the Stories of the People Who Made It happen”

It’s available on most book sellers’ websites, paperback and eBook. Full details and reviews on Amazon. Buy this or get it on your holiday gift wish list. You will love it.

https://www.amazon.com/History-Fantasy- ... B0D39FMLVR


CHAPTER 14
HIGH-STAKES GAMES

Lenny Pappano, owner of Draft Sharks, a fantasy football content site, became friends with Emil Kadlec from advertising in Kadlec’s magazines. They talked about doing an event for fantasy players. There were industry trade shows where companies would pitch their product, but that wasn’t particularly exciting for the average player. One day around Thanksgiving 2001, Kadlec called and asked Pappano what he was doing. He replied, “I’m answering e-mails and watching the World Series of Poker.”

Kadlec exclaimed, “That’s what we should do for fantasy football! Create a championship event in Las Vegas!”

For several days they discussed the idea. As Pappano explained, “We started with the phrase, ‘If we could compete in this event, we would want to…’ and then we filled in the blank. We would want to do it in Vegas. We would want to have a party at the ESPN Zone. We would want a chance to win NFL autographed memorabilia. We would want a grand prize of $200,000. Our business plan was like the movie Field of Dreams: ‘Build it and they will come.’”

At first Pappano thought it was crazy. But the more they talked about it, he thought, “Man—who wouldn’t want to do this?”

Kadlec said, “At the time, the only fantasy events were where “regular” people watched “experts” draft or speak. People won’t go to Vegas to watch an event. They want to be the event.”

They e-mailed some of their customers to gauge interest. There was a fantastic response, including comments such as “I’ve been waiting nine years for this contest” and “If you don’t have this in Vegas, you’re nuts.”

Their World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF) debuted in 2002 with an entry fee of $1,250, a grand prize of $200,000, and more than $500,000 in total prizes. The entries were slow, and many people were on the fence, as it was a new event and they were concerned they might pay for it, fly to Vegas, and find an empty room. Kadlec and Pappano determined it was essential to guarantee the prize money and earn the trust of the fantasy community. They decided to guarantee prizes, even though they would each lose about $100,000 if no one else signed up. “Lenny was petrified,” according to Kadle. But after the guarantee, the entries started pouring in. They ended with 46 leagues of 12, for 552 total teams.

WCOFF marked the first time that the entire Las Vegas ESPN Zone had been rented out for an event. It cost $80,000 for the party, including an open bar and buffet. Approximately 900 people attended, as most participants brought a co-manager or significant other. The Saturday draft was in a 32,000-square-foot ballroom at the MGM Grand, the day before the NFL season kicked off. WCOFF gave away $15,000 in autographed memorabilia, drawing winners randomly. The event was a huge success.

The next spring, 2003, they launched the World Championship of Fantasy Baseball (WCOFB). It only drew 45 teams. The second WCOFF had 600 teams. In 2004, WCOFB again only had 45 teams and they never ran it again. Kadlec said they were football guys and just not really into baseball.

The WCOFF added additional leagues on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, such as “best ball” and “auction” formats before the big Saturday draft. They also arranged informal golf outings and poker tournaments. And online leagues became available, as well as some live drafts in Atlantic City and Orlando, for those who didn’t have the time or money to get to Vegas. They added a league with a $25,000 entry fee which was played by only the 12 people in the league with no overall competition. They peaked at 900 entries for the WCOFF main event.

Kadlec and Pappano had created a new industry, as many copycats quickly sprang up. They sold WCOFF in 2007 to an investment group, GridIron Fantasy Sports. But after the 2010 NFL season, reportedly more than $300,000 in prize money went unpaid. GridIron was sued by at least one state Attorney General (Missouri) and went bankrupt.

WCOFF was the inaugural winner of the FSTA’s Matthew Berry Game Changer Award in 2018. Kadlec was inducted into the FSTA Hall of Fame in 2021.

Around 2005, Scott Wapner did a feature about WCOFF for CNBC’s Squawk Box. He attended the draft with 1,100 people in a 70,000-square-foot ballroom at the Las Vegas Hilton, interviewing Kadlec and many participants—including husbands and wives, fathers and sons, and mothers and daughters. Wapner also cited a recent survey of men aged 22 and over, where more than 40% said their number one thought during the day was about fantasy football, compared to 30% who answered sex.

NFBC/NFFC

Greg Ambrosius was the editor of Fantasy Sports and Baseball Cards magazines. In August 2002, Baseball Cards folded. The magazine industry was struggling. Ambrosius thought his career was ending. He had just had his third child and his wife quit her job, making his their only income. He was worried.

In September, the WCOFF placed an ad in his magazine. At a time when many fantasy games were free, they were asking people to pay $1,250 to enter, plus the costs of flying to Las Vegas and a hotel room. Ambrosius thought, “This has no chance in hell.” He instructed his ad manager to get cash up front for their ad.

As part of the Friday night WCOFF party at the ESPN Zone, there was an experts league called Fanex that held their draft in a room so everyone could watch. Ambrosius’ friend, Brady Tinker, was unable to attend the Fanex draft and asked Ambrosius to fill in. Ambrosius saw 900 people at the ESPN Zone drinking and having a great time. Saturday morning, he arrived at the convention room to see the same 900 people in a huge room filled with tables and draft boards as far as the eye could see. A man said, “This is the fucking Super Bowl of fantasy football!” Ambrosius was astounded, and the man who had thought this had no chance in hell knew right then that he wanted to run an event like this himself.

[lschechter]

Just a reminder, buy this now or get it on your holiday gift wish list. Santa is coming soon!

[Coltsfan]

I read this book - it was really interesting!


Wayne

[lschechter]

Hey Wayne, glad you liked it. I'd appreciate if you can leave a review or rating on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Thanks.