My Life in Fantasy Sports
March 15th, 2011 | by Ray Flowers |
Photo by Nenyaki
I’m changing this up today. After spending weeks profiling players and putting together top-whatever lists (you can find all the FREE data for the 2011 draft season in the Player Capsule section), I’m going to leave the field of analysis and tell a personal story. I’ve received a couple of emails the past few weeks about how one gets involved, professionally, in the world of fantasy sports. In what follows I’ll give a brief outline of my journey so you can see how one person did it.
At one point I was in graduate school (yes, you can be educated and still work in the field of fantasy sports). While I was getting started on my thesis I thought it would also be fun to do something a little “lighter” that didn’t require copious hours of research for 500 words of writing. I’d always loved baseball having played it my whole life and havin coached high school frosh-soph baseball for a year, so I contacted a few companies to see if they would let me write for them. No dice. In fact, I believe it took eight tries until I found a site that was willing to let a no-name write for them – for free mind you. Drafthelp.com and Rick Morris gave me that shot, and that’s when things started cooking. As best as I can remember…
I worked for about six months without making a dollar.
I was then offered $500 (if my memory is correct) to keep doing what I was doing (basically an article a week and some podcast work).
I picked up another gig writing for Athomeplate.com – again, an article a week type of thing.
About six months later I was making a whopping “grand” a year. That’s when things started to take off.
Ryan Houston, who I’m eternally grateful to (no one is more responsible for my success in this industry than he is), offered me a part-time gig to help out FantasyBaseball.com with their baseball product. I did that for a while when an opportunity presented itself. The company also owned Fantasyhockey.com, but they weren’t doing anything with it. Taking the initiative, I told the powers that be that I would put a staff together and work with the developer to get the hockey site up and running. They were so pleased with how that effort went that they came to me an offered me a full-time job to work for them (I basically forced their hand with my dedication and effort – and my modesty was of course another selling point). Having just completed my master’s degree I had a choice – continue on with my schooling and head down the road of PhD studies or stay in fantasy sports. You know which option I took.
I worked for a couple of years with Fantasy Planet, and it was rewarding and brutal at the same time. I remember distinctly one period of time where I, literally, worked 12 or more hours for 14 straight says (we were putting out our first baseball magazine). If I remember correctly, I think I left my house five times in those two weeks; three times to go to the grocery store, once to get gas, and once to get out of the house for dinner. Hey, it’s what needed to be done to get ahead. The hours were oppressive, the pay mediocre, but the results were worth the effort.
Moving on from there I followed Ryan Houston to Daily Racing Form. Originating in 1894, DRF was a company that had tentacles everywhere, so no, I didn’t cover horse racing. I actually wrote for two of their other periodicals – College and Pro Football News Weekly and The Sportsform – while at the same time functioning as the Managing Editor of FantasyFootballChamps (I also did a guest spot with Sports Grumblings and Head2Head Sports for a short while). Again, another stepping stone with new opportunities presented and learned. On the downside, it literally took 12 weeks for me to get my first paycheck necessitating a lot of Top Ramen and spaghetti dinners. That’s when Fanball.com came a calling.
Again, stop me if you heard this before, I followed Mr. Houston to Fanball and for the next three years we all experienced a ton of success. Our magazines were often voted the best in the business, I think we printed 11 of them in 2010, and our reach was extensive. We partnered with the NFBC and the NFFC in the live event arena, and Kyle Elfrink and I started doing a daily podcast on Blog Talk Radio. That experience, plus the diligent work of Mr. Houston, led to my current opportunity as co-host, along with Kyle and Kay Adams, of The Fantasy Drive on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (the show is on Sirius 210, XM 87). And of course, there is my five year relationship with Sports Illustrated that continues to this day (one weekly piece on hockey and baseball).
So let me sum up the often circuitous journey and the steps/sacrifices that need to be made.
(1) You have to put yourself in a position to succeed. Sometimes that means you have to take out the garbage and wash the dishes. At the same time, every experience is invaluable. Learn all you can while you are where you are. All the experiences will help you.
(2) If someone offers you a job in this industry, and they are willing to pay you, take it. You might only be making $4 an hour if you work out the numbers, but the fact of the matter is that paying gigs just aren’t easy to get, especially with the proliferation of social media and the soapbox every moron in the world can now climb upon to spout off nonsense.
(3) Realize you’ll never get rich doing this. You had better be in it for the love of the love of the game or you’ll never last.
(4) Understand that you’ll have to work a ton of hours, I’m talking 65+ a week easy, if you ever want to “make it.” That means there will be times that you won’t be able to see your friends for dinner and there might be birthday celebrations that you’ll have to miss (good luck working things out with your significant other unless they are totally understanding). Vacations? You can pretty much forget about them unless you are talking about a quick 2-day jaunt somewhere.
(5) You really need to have a working knowledge of more than one sport. With the way the industry is moving there just aren’t that many full-time people who cover only one sport. The best way to make yourself a valuable commodity is to be able to navigate at least two sports – and it would help a ton if one of those sports was football.
So there it is, a quick outline of how I got to where I am. Hard work, some talent, and a little luck were all key. As I’ve always been told by my parents – if you put your whole being behind something you’ll never fail. So far I’ve yet to prove them wrong.
By Ray Flowers
Tags: Athomeplate, Drafthelp, Fantasy Planet, Fantasy Sports, FantasyFootballChamps, How to Become a Fantasy Writer, My Life in Fantasy Sports, SiriusXM, SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio
By Jon Stulberg on Mar 15, 2011
Excellent story Ray. I hear all the time from people, “dude, you love this so much and know so much about baseball and football, why don’t you start your own website.” If these people had any idea how hard it is, how much time is involved and how the “fortune” you could earn pales in comparison to what they are thinking it would be, they’d simply think the part-time stuff I do is cool enough. I’ve always applauded your efforts in this arena. Keep up the good work my man!
By Jason Collette on Mar 15, 2011
Hey, I was a attheplate.com guy to doing minor league boxscore reviews waaaaaaay back in the day.
By Ray Flowers on Mar 15, 2011
Thanks Jon, much obliged.
It ain’t easy. You gotta stick to it that’s for sure. If you don’t have that, your doomed.
By John G on Mar 15, 2011
What? You don’t remember your brief stay at Sports Grumblings in 2007-8?
I feel sooooo used…
By Ray Flowers on Mar 15, 2011
John is right — I did write for Sports Grumblings for about a month when my friend gave me a shot when I needed a few bucks. Thanks John!
By Jeff K on Mar 15, 2011
Ray, I’m just a baseball junkie who jumps from site to site trying to get a fix. I must say, your work is some of (if not) the best out there. Hearing what you’ve poured into it over the years really puts some things into perspective. It’s not a job I could ever undertake. Keep up the great work. You are greatly appreciated!
By Tom Ackerman on Mar 15, 2011
Your success is well deserved and earned. Your work is a pleasure to read and listen to.
By Ray Flowers on Mar 15, 2011
Thanks guys. I figured I’d put it out there so that people can get a little feeling of what the job is like. Everyone says they want to do it, but I think when it comes down to it, working 70 hours while being paid like you should be working 35 isn’t something most people will push through. Maybe I’m just one stubborn SOB.
By Ed on Mar 16, 2011
Hello Ray, Hope all is well with you. Was listening yesterday and liked your run on 20 / 20 outfielders during the mock draft. Care to rank your top 10 or 15 outfielders with 20 / 20 potential?
By Frank on Mar 16, 2011
Great story Ray! I can relate to what you are saying, I coach high school volleyball and probaly earn around $4 an hour doing it but it’s totally worth it!
By Andrew on Mar 16, 2011
Thanks for the story Ray! Hope your career continues to trend up, I enjoy listening to you on XM and reading your blog here.
By Ray Flowers on Mar 16, 2011
Just look at my team. j/k
I thought I would try something different with the position. Don’t forget the guy who I took in the 22nd rd., Nate McLouth. From 2008-09 he was a 20/20 performer. Could he get back there again? He certainly could despite his lack of draft day publicity.
By Paul on Mar 16, 2011
Ray, I have been reading this blog before you had took it over. Can’t remember who ran it before but you had done podcast with them.
Anyhow I have to say the radio show gave you huge popularity, this blog has took off.
I used to look over to the right under recent comments to follow our conversations, now I have to go digging for them…lol
I had an owner in one of my fantasy leagues start a baseball/football website about two years ago, initially I was going to write for him but after having a child and another on the way I had absolutely no time…. And how so bad I wanted to.
Since then, that owner has given the site up to someone else to run due to lack of time.
You really need to live the single life to do something as such.
Congratulations on your accomplishments Ray!
By Ray Flowers on Mar 16, 2011
Paul-
Glad you are enjoying the work, and thanks for being around for a long while (I have run this blog for over four years, no one ran it before me
— and yes, I used to do a podcast with Brandon Wilson once a week back in the day).
As for your premise about being single and doing this — it certainly helps. I have the ability to write quickly which helps a ton, but still, there is so much to do. What many don’t realize is that when you are “full time” you do much more than just write. At one point I managed 36 people. At other times I’ve functions as writer, editor, manager etc. Writing articles, blog entries, podcasts, radio shows, staff management, and interaction with users (there are days where I spend more than 90 minutes answering emails, tweets etc.)… if you can’t multi-task you’ve got no shot at making it. And if you’ve got no life, even better. j/k
By Joseph Schaaf on Mar 16, 2011
Ray as I’ve said before I always enjoy reading someone who thinks like me (or whom I think alike depending on your point of view), and I wish my work schedule allowed me to listen to your XM show a little more often. I and I’m sure a whole bunch of other people truly appreciate what you and those of your profession do, and totally agree with your statement of “if you can’t multi-task you’ve got no shot at making it”, I’ve often thought about pursuing a chance at writing anything sports related but with a growing family and a job in which I sometimes put in 70+hours a week, that dream just seems to get farther and farther away, but please keep up the great work you do. Thank you.
By Paul on Mar 17, 2011
Ray, you sure about that?
The podcast was once a week where two guys referred to you as a “guest” and interviewed you with baseball questions.
By Ray Flowers on Mar 17, 2011
Paul-
Trust me, its always been owned by me. I can’t say 10 years ago that it was, but for the last 5 years its been me. The sites’ look has changed at least 4 times, that may be part of it, but I’ve owned the domain name for half a decade.
By Paul on Mar 17, 2011
I guess you would know…lol
Did someone else used to write on the site? Or was it only you?
Maybe the way the podcast was set up, confused me.
By Ray Flowers on Mar 17, 2011
I used to have a staff of five guys writing for me, though that was about two years ago. Since then, been only me pounding out the stories.
By Paul on Mar 18, 2011
Ah, there we go!
Im not going crazy!
By Justin on Apr 6, 2011
I am inspired by your story. I am currently seeking the same opportunity. Baseball is my passion and football a close second. I aspire to one day get to your level and achieve success!
By Ray Flowers on Apr 6, 2011
Justin – good luck my friend, but do yourself a favor, set your sites lower than me. j/k
Stick to it, work hard, and you can make your dreams a reality.