Did you pick Tom Brady to march your fantasy team to victory last year? Did you squander your first round draft pick on Priest Holmes back in 2005? Those key players suffered season ending injuries. If you selected them, you may have found yourself out of luck and had your league championship dreams dashed. That is, unless you were able to take advantage of fantasy sports insurance.
According to reports from major media outlets, at least one licensed insurance broker is marketing a fantasy sports insurance policy, where the policyholder would be reimbursed for his/her entry fee in the event that a professional athlete misses a certain number of games. That way, when a season ending injury occurs to a key player, the policyholder in theory can be made whole.
For those not in the know, in a fantasy football league, participants draft players to form a fantasy team just prior to the beginning of the National Football League (“NFL”) season. The teams consist of various skill positions, such as quarterback, running back, or wide receiver, etc. Each week, the participants go head-to-head against each other, gathering the statistical results from the week’s real games and applying them to their fantasy team. So when New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees throws for six touchdowns, as he recently did, his fantasy team owner is justly rewarded. Yet when a star player goes down early in the season with a season ending injury, the team owner’s hope for a league championship usually fades away. The same principles apply to fantasy baseball, basketball, hockey, or soccer.
While many treat fantasy football casually, there are scores of others who spend countless hours drafting players, making player trades, and obsessing over statistics and team match-ups. For those who meticulously pore over stats, or just those that want to protect their investment, fantasy sports insurance may just be the ticket to buying a little piece of mind. Please note, coverage on key players may no longer be offered for the 2009-2010 NFL season.
