Addicted to Fantasy Sports? You’re not alone.

Today in America, addictions are all too prevalent, ranging from pharmaceutical pill addictions to frightening American Idol obsessions. An often unreported yet steadily growing problem is beginning to garner more attention, though: the growing addiction to fantasy sports.

Fantasy sports aren’t new to the scene, but they are gaining in popularity at an increasing rate, with owners drafting and releasing athletes to form virtual teams.  All of this occurs within the realm of a given sports league, such as the NFL or MLB. The drafting of athletes isn’t actually what kicks off the addiction in most cases, though. Instead, it’s the statistics behind every athlete that leads to problems.

As owners manage their teams, they compete against a rival owner for the better stats, such as a home run or touchdown, so this need to acquire and maintain strong numbers means owners have to act quickly to pick up free agents who are showing noticeable improvements. It might be hard for some to believe that a person could become addicted to these statistics, but the reality is that these numbers have a deeper meaning.

The addiction forms when owners begin watching their players so closely that they constantly monitor the team in an obsessive manner (almost like a jealous lover). A problem can quickly worsen as an owner strains to keep up-to-date with all the current breaking news and developing statistics. But the nature of professional sports is one of constant change, so it soon becomes an impossible task to stay on top of everything, especially given the vast collection of sports available, ranging from baseball to professional wrestling fans.

Although fantasy sports have the potential for addiction, it’s not nearly as threatening as a full-on WoW one. In fact, fantasy sports have proven to be beneficial in most regards to the sports world. Many teams that normally don’t get a lot of attention are now attracting new eyes as fantasy owners watch games that are at high stakes for themselves. So the solution in the end is probably just good old fashioned moderation, but I think we all know that’s easier said than done (all you Final Fantasy fans).