Women Against Fantasy Sports: Ladies, We're Here for You!

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WomenAgainstFantasySports.com, a new web site conceived by a Marin County woman abandoned by her husband for six months every year due to his fantasy football addiction, launched on Aug. 8.

Allison Lodish, 35, of Kentfield, Calif., and two sympathizers created the site as an outlet for people to ridicule, mourn and lament the loss of their partners who spend an inordinate amount of time online consuming player data, drafting and managing their teams, scouring stats, scores, and injury reports and trash-talking with friends and players in their leagues.

“I want to make one thing perfectly clear,” Lodish writes in her first blog entry on WomenAgainstFantasySports.com. “I am NOT a sports hater, and in fact I am a huge fan...of REAL sports. I can scream at the TV with the best of them. I grew up in a house with brothers … I feel the pain when my team loses.”

“But now, I am simply a woman who has had it with the countless hours my husband spends glued to the computer checking his fantasy football crap. If he spent that much energy on ANYTHING else, we wouldn’t be here now, would we?”

There is much data confirming that Lodish is just one of many who have been “widowed” by fantasy sports. According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, fantasy sports is a $3-4 billion a-year industry with more than 18 million adults in the U.S. participating – fantasy football leads in popularity, followed by baseball. According to a 2007 study, more than two million teenagers in the U.S. and Canada are active fantasy sports participants, indicating there are plenty of budding consumers to stimulate continued industry growth.

In fact WAFS co-founder Azar McMaster, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah, contributed to the revolution with his admitted addiction to fantasy football, participating in 10 fantasy football leagues in one season alone. While he fondly remembers winning three of those leagues, he recognized the impact his obsession was having on his family. “That year I hit rock bottom. I wasted too much time on fantasy sports – we fantasy sports fanatics definitely take it too seriously,” says McMaster. “I realized there are enough of us fantasy dorks out there playing in several leagues, and there is a need for an online gathering place for our significant others to share stories and buy cool stuff that pokes fun at our addiction.”

Besides giving a voice to partners of fantasy sports junkies, WomenAgainstFantasySports.com will generate revenue from advertising and merchandise sales.

“It was about four years ago when my husband started to play fantasy football,” says Lodish. “Had I known where this would lead, I may not have been so eager for him to take up this `hobby'.”

Is Lodish like the Peanuts’ Lucy swiping away the pigskin from Charlie Brown as he approaches to kick the proverbial fantasy football?

“No way. WAFS isn’t here to spoil anyone’s fun – we’re just making our own entertainment and supporting one another,” says Lodish. “The website is a humorous retaliation for the millions out there who have `lost' their significant others to the clutches of fantasy sports. It’s a forum for anyone who feels the need to address their partner’s fantasy sports compulsion,” says Lodish.

McMaster underscores that WAFS is gender-neutral, despite the name of the site. “Even though most people playing fantasy sports are men, WAFS does not cater exclusively to women,” says McMaster. “We welcome all comers of the fantasy-possessed. Addiction favors no gender.” Studies indicate that about 15 percent of fantasy sports participants are women.

However, Lodish foresees one potential pitfall for her new web venture. “In households with only one computer, if the fantasy-fixated spouse is constantly online managing their teams, their partner will have to wait who knows how long to get onto WAFS and grouse?”

About WomenAgainstFantasySports.com

WomenAgainstFantasySports.com is an online venue for the bereaved, annoyed and just plain perplexed who have lost a loved one to the vice grip of online fantasy sports. Just visit www.womenagainstfantasysports.com and you’ll see what we mean.