Fantasy sports is already a major industry in America. While controversy remains regarding whether certain forms of the game constitute gambling, a huge proportion of both the US and Canada play these game simulators that allow you to pick and choose players to make up a pretend team. In fact, it is estimated that 58.6 million people engage in fantasy sports annually. What you may not realize is that some fantasy sports skills are 100% transferable to other areas of life. How? Let me tell you.
1. The analysis of numbers is very similar to stock market analysis.
When you’re combing through yards per carry and value over replacement player in fantasy sports, you can easily move those skills over to stock trading and come out with similar (hopefully positive) results. In fantasy football for example, you might pay attention to carries or points per game; in stock trading, you should just like at price-to-earnings ratio or volume. The numerical analysis that goes into fantasy sports is definitely transferable. I do both, and I exhibit very similar feelings during both analyzing a second-string running back and a penny stock.
2. Reading news releases and gathering information is useful in many industries.
When your player in fantasy sports gets hurt, you need to know quickly about the severity of the injury. Similarly, in financial market analysis, political policy discussion, or elsewhere, it is often necessary for you to troll around obscure advice websites and glean proper information from those sources, analyzing the legitimacy of the thought as you go along. Knowing how to research injuries/quarterly reports and how to implement that information is very valuable. Trolling around on obscure message boards is not something that is exclusive to fantasy sports. Almost every industry and interest has discussion forums that can be examined for valuable information.
3. Negotiation skills can easily be honed in fantasy sports.
So your team is in dire straits, and you need to bolster your roster with a mid-season trade. You reach out to someone and offer a trade that benefits you, your trade partner offers something that is ridiculously in his favor, and you meet in the middle. Guess what? Negotiation works just like this in real life. A lot of fantasy sports leagues, though, consistent of members who are terrible at negotiation, not understanding that a trade should mutually benefit both sides, just like, according to economics there are (hypothetically) no losers in any business transaction. Use fantasy sports to practice negotiation.
4.Fantasy sports keep you on a schedule.
If you’re a good fantasy sports owner, you know when you have to make certain transactions. For instance, before starting this article, I knew that because it was Tuesday, I had to make any waiver claims for my fantasy football league. Similarly, in other sports leagues, certain changes have to be made at certain times on a consistent basis. If you want to win at fantasy sports, you have to get on a regular schedule. And, as you know, most jobs rely on you arriving and/or executing certain tasks at certain times. Need I say more?
5. Fantasy sports make you set aside your certain likes and dislikes.
A lot of people play fantasy sports to draft players for whom they have some sort of affinity. Let me advise you, if you do not already know: THIS IS A TERRIBLE STRATEGY. The players you like and dislike will not perform better because you chose them for your made-up team. The only way to win in fantasy football is to choose the best players, regardless. For example, I hate NFL Quarterback Tom Brady. I loathe him. I think he’s a cheating pretty boy who is overexposed and over-hyped. However, he’s on my fantasy football team because he is the best player available, and I cannot complain when he outscores most other players. Similarly, at work, you may be asked to execute a task alongside a talented but jerkish coworker. You don’t get to choose your partner in that situation, and you cannot let your preferences filter in to your work, nor should you do so in fantasy sports
Featured photo credit: FX’s The League via blogs-images.forbes.com
