According to the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association, there are about 60 million people who play fantasy sports in North America every year. And while the vast majority of them play fantasy football, roughly 20% play fantasy basketball.
If you and your friends want to get in on the action, you should consider starting up a fantasy basketball league. It’ll make watching professional basketball games even more fun than it already is for all of you.
Before you get things started, though, you should learn how to create a private fantasy league for yourself and your friends. As the league manager, you’re going to need to take certain steps to get your new league up and running.
Here is what you’ll need to do to kickstart a fantasy basketball league from scratch.
Start by Seeing Who Wants to Take Part in Your Fantasy Basketball League
To start a fantasy basketball league, you’re usually going to need to have at least 10 teams signed up to take part in it.
In some cases, you might be able to get away with having as few as 8 teams. You might also be able to squeeze 12 teams into your fantasy basketball league.
But generally speaking, 10 teams are going to be the sweet spot. It’ll allow everyone to put together a solid roster without having too stacked or too thin teams.
You should start asking around to make sure you’re going to find enough people to participate in your fantasy basketball league.
Figure Out Which Fantasy Basketball League Site You Want to Use
Once you have a group of friends ready to participate in a fantasy basketball league, you’ll have to figure out which site you want to use to host your league. There are lots of options for you to pick from.
Some of the most popular fantasy basketball league sites are:
- ESPN
- Yahoo! Sports
- CBS Sports
All of these sites will allow you to start up a fantasy basketball league with your friends for free. It’s just a matter of playing around on each one to see which seems like it’ll be the best fit for you.
You should do this and select the one that your fantasy basketball league is going to use. You can then have everyone who will participate in your league sign up for an account on your preferred site.
Come Up With a Fair Fantasy Basketball League Point System
Many years ago, those who wanted to play fantasy basketball had to create their own scoring systems and use these systems to add up their scores manually. It made participating in fantasy sports a painstaking process for most people.
Fortunately, fantasy basketball players don’t have to do this anymore! The site they sign up for will provide them with a scoring system and automatically handle them.
You can, however, have some say over your fantasy basketball league point system. While sites like ESPN will have default scoring systems in place for you, you can tinker with them to make them unique to your league.
You and your friends should discuss what you want your scoring system to look like. You should then adjust your scoring system after setting up your fantasy basketball league and ensuring everyone understands it.
Decide How Your Fantasy League Drafting Will Go
When you reach this point, you’ll almost be ready for your fantasy basketball league to tip-off. But before you start matching up against your friends, you’re obviously going to need to fill out your league’s rosters.
You can do this by holding a fantasy basketball league draft. This will allow you and all of your friends to pick the players you want to have on your respective fantasy basketball teams.
There are two main types of fantasy league drafting. They are:
- Snake drafts
- Auction drafts
You should learn about the differences between the two types of drafts and choose the one that will work best for your fantasy basketball league.
Encourage Everyone in Your Fantasy Basketball League to Create Fun Team Names
After your fantasy league drafting, everyone in your league will have a roster filled with NBA stars. At that point, you should encourage your fellow players to come up with fun team names based on some of the players on their rosters.
Half the fun of taking part in a fantasy basketball league is coming up with a great name for your team. Here are some ideas to help you get started.
Begin Keeping Tabs on Everything Happening in the World of Basketball
If you’re going to enjoy any success when it comes to winning a fantasy basketball league, you’re going to have to pay close attention to everything happening in the world of basketball.
You’ll need to know which of the players on your roster are scheduled to take part in favorable matchups. You’ll also need to know which are dealing with injuries or going through shooting slumps.
And if you plan on keeping your fantasy basketball league going for years to come, you’ll even want to know how things are going in college basketball. It’s the college basketball stars of today who could very well end up on your fantasy basketball league roster tomorrow.
These CBB free picks should help you monitor what’s going on in college basketball at all times. They could very well increase your chances of winning your fantasy basketball league in the coming years.
Get Your Fantasy Basketball League Off the Ground Today
If you and your friends have kicked around the idea of starting a fantasy basketball league in the past, why not do it now? It’s never been easier to start a fantasy basketball league than it is today.
Follow the steps that we’ve laid out for you here to get your league off the ground. You’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner once you experience how much fun it can be for yourself.
Read more articles about fantasy sports by browsing around on the rest of our blog.
